There was a drop in the number of shops lying vacant across Britain at the end of 2022, new figures show.
The improvement came despite high inflation putting pressure on both business and consumers, and the threat of recession.
According to a report from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Local Data Company (LDC), the overall vacancy rate improved to 13.8% in the October-December quarter.
This was a 0.1 percentage point improvement on the July-September period, and 0.6 percentage points better than the same quarter a year ago. It marked the fifth consecutive quarter of falling vacancy rates.
High street locations, shopping centres and retail parks all saw improvements in vacancy rates in the fourth quarter, with the lowest vacancy rates seen on retail parks.
“Retail parks continue to outperform other location types which is perhaps an indication that some of those shopping habits formed during the height of Covid are sticking — with consumers favouring these drive-to locations and larger format units,” said Lucy Stainton, LDC commercial director. “That being said, shopping centres have also seen a relatively significant decline in vacancy rates with investors in some instances seeing an opportunity to convert space into alternative uses to meet the needs of the local catchment, as well as new concepts coming to market and brands returning to expansion.”
Vacancy rates have not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels, however.
“The first half of 2023 will likely be yet another challenging time for retailers and their customers,” said BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson. “There are few signs that retailers’ input costs will ease, putting further pressure on margins, and making businesses think twice on how much investment to make.”
Dickinson added that the situation should improve in the second half of the year, as inflationary pressures begin to ease and consumer confidence is expected to return.
