Annual General Meeting

British Land Co PLC
13 July 2001


British Land Annual General Meeting


John Ritblat, Chairman of The British Land Company PLC, makes the following
comments on the occasion of the Company's Annual General Meeting of
shareholders later this morning.

'We are in the business of buying and developing properties which will add to
net asset value and thus total return.  We finance this cheaply and limit our
exposure to variable interest rates.  We control debt to be roughly the same
amount as our shareholders' funds, enabling us to deliver double any increase
in value which the portfolio achieves, a particularly useful attribute in a
time of low inflation.

The 2000/2001 financial year was a successful one for British Land.  Net
assets per share rose by 15.6% to 802p, driven by a strong performance at
Broadgate, and we completed a number of initiatives that will underpin future
growth.  This year has also started well.  Since we last updated the market at
the end of May, we have furthered our strategy of leveraging the portfolio
with long-dated financing at competitive rates of interest through the £575
million securitisation of the income from 35 supermarkets leased to
Sainsbury's Supermarkets.  This transaction released 85% of the value of those
assets, without realising the substantial tax liabilities.  We retain control
and ownership as well as full participation in future growth and the residual
value of these well-located sites with valuable planning consents.

The overall ability of property to deliver geared income and capital growth
make it a particularly attractive medium to long-term investment in the
current economic climate, buoyed by long leases on quality assets providing
strong cash flow from net annualised rents of £493 million.  Our combination
of prime City and West End of London offices, coupled with out-of-town retail
assets, is well positioned for market conditions.  The portfolio can be
expected to provide added growth in the future for shareholders, reinforced in
this low inflationary era by our financing structure.

We will continue to apply our consistent approach to value creation over time,
without regard to short-term fluctuations and taking full advantage of the
benefits of scale.  We look forward to the future with confidence.'

Contacts

The British Land Company PLC
       John Ritblat, Chairman                     tel: [phone]
       John Weston Smith, Finance Director       tel: [phone] 
Finsbury 
       Faeth Finnemore                            tel: [phone]