British Land saw £4.1bn wiped off the value of its portfolio in the past 12 months but gave its strongest signal yet that the market had hit the bottom by indicating that it was about to begin a two-year buying spree.

Blackstone is in exclusive talks with British Land to take a 50% stake in Broadgate, the £2.5bn office development in the heart of the City.

British Land revealed yesterday that it had received interest from a number of potential buyers for the stake in the complex that came to symbolise the City’s expansion when it was built in the 1980s.

'All British Land assets are for sale at the right price,' Chris Grigg, chief executive, said.

'Broadgate is no exception. I can confirm that we have received a number of approaches.'

Financial Times, The Times, Daily Telegraph