Shoppers continue to flock to centre

The news comes as the group announced plans to start construction on its first major UK retail development in four years at Trinity Leeds

Gerald Jennings, Land Securities' retail portfolio director for the North, said footfall at White Rose is still very healthy.

"We are signing up several new retailers for Christmas," he said. "White Rose continues to perform very well for us."

Footfall for the year to March 31 rose to 13,040,695, an increase of 1.5 per cent compared with the 12,848,850 shoppers who came through the centre's doors in the previous year.

The latest figures show that White Rose shoppers are spending around 75 each on non-food per visit, up 17 on last year.

They are spending an average of an hour-and-a-half at the centre, which is an increase of 20 minutes on three years ago.

Speaking generally, Land Securities said property values are continuing to rise despite recent signs that growth has started to slow down.

The group had expected property values to ease once sellers exceeded buyers, but chief executive Francis Salway said this had not happened yet.

Land Securities said it expects the medium-term recovery of UK property values to be "interspersed by ripples" amid economic uncertainties.

The group said it achieved 4.6m of development lettings in the three months to June 30, and concluded total property sales of 302.9m.

During the quarter, it made acquisitions totalling 174.6m at an average yield of 5.6 per cent.

Land Securities also announced that Simon Palley, managing partner at private equity firm BC Partners, will join its board as a

non-executive director on August 1.