Investors who have rented out properties to data centres have benefited from the demand from online and software infrastructure firms.

The decline in other sectors has been attributed to economic slowdown heightened by the pandemic that has resulted in most businesses putting on hold space requirements as they focus on operational rather than capital expenditure.

According to Knight Frank managing director Ben Woodhams, many tenants have been looking to cut overheads while others don’t want to make any commitments because they do not know the market situation in the near future.

The virus crisis has seen consumers have changed their shopping patterns from retail centres to online shopping. This affected the ability of real estate properties to generate income.

“Landlords over the review period provided concessions and incentives to retain and attract new occupiers however this was done on a case by case basis,” Mr Woodhams said.