British landlords are facing a £3bn hit from the potential collapse of WeWork.
British landlords are exposed to more than £3bn in rental commitments from WeWork, London’s biggest private tenant.
An analysis of WeWork’s UK subsidiaries shows the pay-as-you-go office provider had £3.8bn in UK lease commitments at the end of 2021, according to the most recent filings by its various UK subsidiaries.
After closing some locations, it continues to owe at least £3.1bn in leases that in some cases last as long as 20 years, across 56 properties.
WeWork remains London’s largest private tenant with around 3m sq ft of space.
They include a 301,488 sq ft building on London’s South Bank owned by Mike Hussey’s Almacantar and 1 Poultry, owned by South Korea’s Hana Financial.
Other landlords include the Qatari royal family and Brookfield Property Partners, who own a 285,000 sq ft WeWork office in Canary Wharf.
Earlier this month the firm, once valued at $47bn, warned of “substantial doubts” over its ability to continue operating. Shares have lost 97% of their value in the past 12 months and WeWork is planning a 1-for-40 reverse split to allow it to stay on the US stock exchange.
