Supermarkets sell-off out-of-town sites

THE value of property owned by big supermarkets has fallen by 17 percent over the past two years as they sell off surplus sites.

The surge in online shopping has left stores with site they no longer need but they still own property valued at £37.8bn.

Many of the properties are out-of-town brownfield sites which would be suitable for new housing developments, a report by leading P2P platform Saving Stream found.

Liam Brooke, a spokesman for the lending platform, said: ‘UK supermarkets are increasingly looking at reversing a long-term strategy of land-banking.’