UK shopping centre vacancy rates continue to drop

Vacancies in shopping centres, retail parks and town centres has fallen for the fifth consecutive quarter, according to new data released by the British Council of Shopping Centres and Local Data Company.

The data reveals that the vacancy rate at UK shopping centres dropped by 1.6 percent in the second quarter of 2016 compared with the previous quarter. While stating that larger shopping centres performed better than the overall average, with the top 50 and 100 UK shopping centres recording declines of 2.3 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively. Vacancy rates at the top 30 largest centres also fell by 2 percent.

Declining vacancy was also recorded at UK retail parks and town centres, where vacancy fell by 0.9 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

The data shows vacancy rates declined in all regions with centres in the East of England and North East seeing the largest falls, both at 2.1 percent. While England and Scotland were the best-performing nations with respective 1.7 percent and 2.1 percent declines, there was a slight increase in Wales where a 0.3 percent rise was recorded for shopping centres.

British Council of Shopping Centres, acting chief executive, Edward Cooke, said: “LDC’s latest research shows vacancy rates declining for the fifth consecutive quarter, reaffirming the stable trend of declining vacancy at UK shopping centres driven by a strengthening occupier market and active asset management.

“In light of the high-profile closures of BHS, Austin Reed and Store Twenty One and the recent Brexit vote, we expect the industry will be watching closely to see whether we have reached the top of the curve in terms of the long-term trend of steadily falling vacancy rates or whether the trend continues into the second half of the year.”