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Colliers CRE’s third national retail barometer research report, which uses void rates as a key indicator, reveals there is a big and growing divergence in vacancy rates between prime and secondary shopping areas across the 15 centres in its sample.
Between April and October 2009 the proportion of vacant retail floorspace continued to rise to reach 11.1 per cent at October 2009. In prime centres the proportion of vacant retail floorspace in prime fell from 7.9 per cent to 7.0 per cent, whereas in secondary areas it rose from 14.2 per cent to 16.2 per cent.
“It is clear that the scale and direction of void rates in secondary areas is what is pushing up the headline vacancy rate for the UK retail sector as a whole – ‘second best’ locations are providing a ‘second best’ performance in terms of voids.
“Our analysis confirms that occupiers are demonstrating a big preference for strong centres and/or quality locations within centres. The growing divergence between prime and secondary is being fuelled by major new shopping centre openings which, during an economic downturn that is both depressing retail demand and undermining the viability of existing shops, are tending to produce an increase in vacancy in secondary areas of town and city centres.”
Between October 2006 and October 2009, the proportion of empty retail floorspace increased in 13 of the 15 centres in the sample; the two exceptions being Oxford Street and Kensington High Street in Central London.
Dr Richard Doidge, Head of Research Consultancy at Colliers CRE
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