Britain’s Shop vacancy remains at 13% in May

The shop vacancy rate in Britain remained at 13% in May for the third month running after falling in March. 

This is according to new figures released from the Local Data Company (LDC) which found that the overall retail and leisure shop vacancy rate increased marginally from 11.6% in April to 11.7% in May.

Matthew Hopkinson, director at LDC, said there were no “dramatic changes to report” despite the “drama happening with deflation, retail prices and profitability”.

He said: “With so many chain operators expanding so rapidly we are seeing an impact on the independents but we are also seeing the sustainable offer peak in certain locations with the profitability of all not being sustainable.
“At some point therefore we are likely to see some distressed operators which will in turn result in closures and this [will cause] a possible increase in this vacancy rate.”