Data: Shop vacancies ‘at highest rate ever recorded’ as uncertainty lingers

1 Comment

The overall store vacancy rate across the UK increased in the second quarter of 2021 despite the lifting of coronavirus restrictions as retailers continued to struggle with the ongoing uncertainty.

The rate of store vacancies rose to 14.5%, a slight increase from the 14.1% reported in Q1 and 2.1% higher than the same period in 2020.

Q2’s increase now marks more than three years of increasing store vacancy rates, a trend that began in Q1 2018, according to the BRC-LDC Vacancy Monitor.

Every retail destination reported an increase in the number of vacant units during this period, with shopping centres facing the greatest increase. Vacancies in shopping centres now stand at 19.4% compared with 18.4% in Q1.

High street vacancies increased to 14.5% in the second quarter of the year. This figure was 14.1% in Q1.

Retail parks reported the lowest rate of store vacancy at 11.5%, although this still marked an increase from 10.6% in Q1.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) also reported that the regional divide of vacancies is notable, with the south of England, including London, recording lower rates of empty units compared with the north of England.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “It comes as no surprise that the number of shuttered stores in the UK continues to rise, after retailers have been in and out of lockdown for over a year.

“While vacancy rates are rising across all retail locations, it is shopping centres, with a high proportion of fashion retailers, that have been the hardest hit by the pandemic. Almost one in five shopping centre units now lie empty and more than one in eight units have been empty for more than a year.”

The ending of the business rates holiday at the end of June may lead to further increases in vacancy rates nationwide.

Dickinson added: “The government must ensure the ongoing business rates review leads to reform of this broken system, delivering on its commitment to permanently reduce the cost burden to sustainable levels.

“The longer the current system persists, the more job losses and vacant shops we will see, hurting staff, customers and communities up and down the country.”

Local Data Company (LDC) director Lucy Stainton said: “Vacancy now sits at the highest rate ever recorded by the LDC. With appetite for new space increasing but still modest, there will simply never be enough demand to meet the supply.

“The property market will be forced to think of more creative ways to utilise this space, to avoid exacerbating the already high rates of long-term voids across our retail destinations, which are not only unsightly and costly for landlords, but also have a negative impact on surrounding stores.”