Shop vacancy rates improving but north vs south divide persists

Shop vacancy rates have seen an improvement in the first half of the year but a strong north/south divide remains, according to new research. A new report published by the Local Data Company (LDC) said H1 shop vacancy rates have shown marked improvement towards the end of the year from their peak of 14.6% in February 2012 to reaching below 13.5%, the first time since June 2010. However, the report shows a strong north/south divide with southern centres seeing vacancy rates improve by around 9%, compared to just 3% in the North and the Midlands. The North West continues to be the worst-performing region with vacancy rates at 16.9% (but it has shown improvement of 0.4%), while the North East is the only region to show a decline with an increase of vacancy rate by 0.4% to 16.4%. Of the top 10 worst town centres for vacant retail and leisure premises, all of which are above 23%, six are in the North East or North West. By comparison, of the top 10 best performing town centres with the least vacant units, seven are in Greater London and the South East. Small towns, with fewer than 200 units, are in the healthiest state at 8.9%, which is a 0.1% improvement on the end of 2013. Medium towns, between 200 and 400 units, have also shown a decrease in vacancy rates from 0.2% to 11.7%. Large towns/cities have the highest overall town vacancy rate at 12.9%, but have shown the greatest improvement with an improvement of 0.6%. Overall, retail parks lead the pack at 8.9%, an improvement of 1.5%, while shopping centres continue to have the highest vacancy rate at an average of 15.3%, an improvement of 0.8% on 2013. Matthew Hopkinson, director at the Local Data Company, said: “The first half of 2014 has shown a positive improvement in vacancy rates across the country both by geography and location type. “What is very clear, however, is that this positive trend is not universal and hides significant variances. The fact that the North West’s vacancy rate is more than double that of London is one clear example of polarisation.” The report analysed over 3,000 town centres, shopping centres and retail parks.