Buried in Liberty International’s interim results last week was a phrase that nobody wanted to hear. The innocuous-looking statement “on hold”, next to the property giant’s Westgate scheme in Oxford, should not be underestimated.

The shelving of a scheme is one of the few issues that unites retailers and landlords in concern – a drastic step that is only taken when needs must.

The initial surprise that the decision attracted has been quickly replaced by more sobering thoughts. How many more schemes are likely to be put on ice? Which schemes will go? When, if at all, will they restart?

One of the things that was most shocking about the fact that Westgate is on hold is that the scheme looked strong. The£300 million redevelopment, if and when it is completed, would give an impressive retail blood transfusion to Oxford, symbolised by the pre-letting of the top spot to anchor king John Lewis.

John Lewis is supposed to be as safe a bet as you can get in retail property, allowing developers to sleep a little easier once it is signed. However, in the present market, it seems not even John Lewis could save Westgate, or Liberty for that matter, which notched up first-half pre-tax losses of£458 million altogether.

But it is not just Liberty that is struggling by any means. Hammerson, British Land and Land Securities have all slipped up in a big way over the past year. So it seems that the question about developments being shelved has become not if but when and who will be left.

When you’re facing the type of losses that many big property companies are, the unthinkable becomes thinkable. If a big-hitter like Liberty is forced to suspend a John Lewis-backed scheme in Oxford, with a catchment that will probably prove to be more resistant to the crunch than most, what is in store for the lesser schemes around the UK that are in the first throws of development?

According to the British Council of Shopping Centres, 82 schemes are due to be completed by the end of 2012, seven of which are classed as major schemes of 600,000 sq ft (55,740 sq m) or above. Before the trucks start rumbling in and the hard hats go on, developers will be taking a long, hard look at their books.

Shelving a project may be a desperate measure for developers, but Liberty has proved that, for most, it has already come to the crunch.

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