Britain’s shop vacancy rate falls to its lowest level since June 2010

Britain’s shop vacancy rate fell to 13.3% in August, down from 13.4% in July, its lowest level since June 2010. 

New research from the Local Data Company shows that the overall retail and leisure vacancy rate also decreased from 11.9% to 11.8%.

Matthew Hopkinson, director at the Local Data Company, said: “The drop in vacancy rates to pre-June 2010 levels is significant and reflects the changes taking place in Britain’s town centres in response to the challenges thrown at them since 2009.

“This improvement equates to over 400 businesses opening in August. It also reflects an increase in demolished and properties under development which may be as a result of change in use or reconfiguration of existing retail space.”

These figures back up recent research from the CBI that suggest retail optimism levels are at their most optimistic since 2002.