British Land has upped its annual outlook as it cashes in on strong demand from artificial intelligence (AI) businesses looking for office space in London. 

'AI and innovation-led' tenants were increasingly looking to settle in London offices, particularly in the Knowledge Quarter, near King's Cross, British Land said. 

The property developer said it had recently signed its sixth deal with Anthropic, the firm behind Claude AI. 

In a trading update for the year ending 31 March, British Land upgraded its earnings outlook after reporting like-for-like net rental growth of 6 per cent across its campuses and retail parks. 

The company now expects underlying earnings per share of at least 30.5p in the 2027 financial year, up from previous guidance of 30.2p. 

In London campuses, 'leasing momentum has been strong over the year,' British Land added. 

It said it had secured 215 deals covering 1,692,000 sq. ft. in London campuses in the period, and accelerated in the final quarter with 834,000 sq. ft. of deals.

This included law firm Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer signing at Broadgate's latest development, 1 Appold Street, in February, setting 'record rents' for the campus.

Like-for-like net rental growth across all the group's campuses rose by 12 per cent in the period. 

Growth for the year was ahead of previous guidance, helping drive underlying earnings per share of 28.9p, just ahead of the 28.5p from the year before.

Retail parks also performed strongly, with occupancy at 99 per cent and rents in the second half 6.3 per cent ahead of previous levels. 

British Land said its retail park portfolio remained 'virtually full' at 99 per cent occupancy, adding that retail parks were the 'format of choice' for retailers.

The chief executive of British Land, Simon Carter, said leasing momentum had been strong, with availability of high-quality space at low levels despite wider economic uncertainty. 

A net asset value of 590p marks an increase of 4 per cent year-on-year, but analysts warned that a valuation at 31 March suggests 'no meaningful adjustment has been made as a result of the rise in interest rate [expectations] since.' 

Oli Creasy, head of property research at Quilter Cheviot said: 'With little reference to external risks in today’s statement, investors are likely to look to the full year results next month for greater clarity on what impact the conflict will have on valuations.'

British Land shares rose 1.77 per cent or 7.00p to 402.80p on Tuesday morning, having risen nearly 5 per cent in the past year. 

The company completed the acquisition of Life Sciences REIT on 20 April 2026 and expects the deal to further boost its earnings in the coming years.