Withdrawals from biggest U.K. property funds accelerated in the final months of 2018

The last quarter of 2018 was the worst for net outflows from U.K. property funds since the Brexit referendum, according to Bloomberg.

The problem many funds face is that they’d sold some of their most attractive assets — London offices and warehouses — to meet redemption requests in the panic that ensued after the June 2016 vote. That has left them heavily exposed to the shopping malls and stores that have found few takers amid a slump in the U.K. retail property market.

The property funds trying to divest real estate are confronting a lackluster market for retail assets after the collapse of some chains and a series of restructurings that led to rent cuts. Sales of all retail property totaled just £5.7 billion ($7.5 billion) in 2018, the lowest figure since 2000, reported Bloomberg.