Shop vacancies in Britain at lowest level since 2009

By

Cajsa Lykke Carlson

Published
May 17, 2016

The latest statistics from the Local Data Company reveal that shop vacancy in Britain fell to 12.4% in April, a 0.6% year-on-year decline.

This is the lowest number seen since December 2009, the result of a decrease in the number of units becoming vacant (down 16% from April 2015) along with an above average number of units being removed from the overall stock (+76%, when compared to April 2015), LDC said.

The Great Britain shopping centre vacancy rate (13.2%) dropped by -1.4% year-on-year in April 2016, while retail park vacancy rates across all of the GB nations and English regions varied in performance. There was an improvement in the North East and West Midlands, but an increase in vacancies in Scotland.

Town centres saw their vacancy rate fall by -0.2% to 10.7% for the first time in three months.

Matthew Hopkinson, director at LDC, commented: “This drop in the national vacancy rate to a level that was last seen in 2009 is significant. Of the shops we have, more are occupied than ever before and remaining occupied for longer, but the LDC data shows the removal of units from the overall stock which is reflected by the decline in long term vacant units. This is also good news, as it hopefully shows that landlords and local authorities are recognising that a unit that hasn’t been occupied for more than three years is very unlikely to ever be reoccupied and therefore should be demolished or given an alternative use. With nearly 12,000 shops in this category there is still a long way to go and the impact on those areas blighted with such terminal vacancy would be significant."