The landlord behind a empire of GP surgeries is mooting opening health centres on the high street by redeveloping some former retail sites.
Harry Hyman is chief executive of Primary Health Properties, which owns a £2.6 billion property portfolio in the UK and Ireland. He told the Evening Standard the firm has had some “exploratory talks” about repurposing some vacant retail sites.
More vacant sites are expected to come in and around malls, and on the high street, in the coming years as some retailers potentially reduce estate sizes following Covid-19 disruption and ever increasing competition from online rivals.
Hyman said: “We continue to see demand for extra space to help enable the redirection of activities out of hospitals. The need for modern, integrated, local primary healthcare facilities is becoming ever more pressing in order to relieve the pressures being placed on hospitals and A&E departments.”
A number of PHP’s existing sites are being used to deliver Covid-19 vaccinations, and typically the buildings are used by the NHS to offer blood tests and x-rays, and other services that don’t need to be done in a hospital.
PHP said in 2020 net rental income increased 13.4% to £131.1 million. The FTSE 250 firm’s total dividend per share was 5.4% higher at 5.9p.
A note from analysts at Liberum said: “A strong pipeline of development and acquisition opportunities leaves us confident in growth to come.”
