Capital & Counties continues to post big valuation gains from its two central London estates, Covent Garden and Earl’s Court - good news for those who followed our well-timed tip last November. The company’s investment portfolio was marked up 9.2 per cent like-for-like, compared with a rise of just 1.2 per cent in the UK industry benchmark. The outperformance came from both estates, but for quite different reasons.
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At Covent Garden, rents rose 8.8 per cent last year thanks both to the general buoyancy of West End retail and to the ongoing gentrification of the area. Chief executive Ian Hawksworth says average front-of-shop rents in Covent Garden still only average £400 per square foot, compared to roughly £700 on Regent Street.