Investors have withdrawn £5.6bn from UK property funds over the past two-and-a-half years, with fears Covid variants could deliver a further blow to the already beleaguered real-estate sector.

Figures from Calastone, which tracks money entering and leaving funds in the UK from financial advisers, fund supermarkets and wealth managers, show investors withdrew £445m from property funds in May — the second highest monthly outflow figure on record.