Commercial landlords. Which planet are some of them from?

According to a report by property agent Cushman & Wakefield, retail administrations are driving high street voids as high as 15% in some areas with an average of 11.2 % nationally. Further, the report puts the increase in void rates, some 4 per cent higher than in a typical market, down to retail administrations, which now account for 3.3 per cent nationally. Central London has the lowest amount of voids due to retailers falling into administration, with 0.6 per cent of stores on the capital's prime retail streets empty as a result of retail failures. But the figure is much higher elsewhere, such as in outer London, where 4.9 per cent of voids are empty due to administrations. This morning I was speaking with one of our long-standing clients and he told me that the landlords for one of his central London sites are seeking to increase the rental by 65%! So o.k. we all know that right now London maybe fairing better than most areas of the country, driven largely by the tourist benefitting from the week pound against the Euro but even so, what planet must you be from to seek a 65% increase in times like this? To this retailer, like many others, his London sites are in some way presently holding up his other locations around the country where footfall and sales are considerably down on their historical levels. For this particular client, matters are not assisted elsewhere when their landlord for a Midlands site is seeking a 20% increase also. Certainly that particular Landlord cannot be making their decision based on any significant benefit of the Euro-spend trickling all the way up the M40. I think the reason may be more simple! They are just from a different planet!