Real estate investment trust, Shaftesbury Capital, has reported robust year-to-date leasing activity in its latest trading update covering the four months to 31 Oct 2025.

The West End-focused landlord, which owns significant parts of Soho, Covent Garden and Carnaby Street, completed 367 transactions worth £30.2million in new contracted rent, +9% ahead of December 2024 in estimated rental value (ERV) and +14% above previous passing rents.

In the second half of 2025 to date, the company has signed 174 deals totalling £11million, continuing a clear trend of rental uplifts. Occupancy remains high, with 2.6% of ERV available to let and a further 1.5% under offer.

“We are pleased to report another period of positive performance, with continued momentum across the portfolio,” commented Ian Hawksworth, CEO of Shaftesbury Capital. “Our West End estates are busy and vibrant through this important trading period, with high occupancy, footfall and sales volumes.”

The company credited its ongoing marketing programme as key to positioning its portfolio to be one of London’s “most vibrant” destinations – and is predicting strong footfall and customer sales growth for the Christmas trading period and beyond.

It highlighted strong momentum across Covent Garden, calling out a number of openings, including fragrance brand Byredo, French haute-perfumerie Parfums de Marly and lifestyle brand Kapten & Son.

Across Soho and Carnaby Street, standout fashion and beauty openings included the new Charlotte Tilbury flagship, alongside TALA, Farm Rio and Pure Seoul.

Hawkesworth added: “As customers continue to prioritise the highest quality locations, enduring demand for our exceptional portfolio together with strong performance and a healthy leasing pipeline give us confidence in our medium-term targets.”