More than one in six shops in Wales are now vacant, new statistics show. The number of empty retail units continued to climb in the second quarter of this year, according to the latest vacancy monitor from the Welsh Retail Consortium (WRC) and Local Data Company (LDC).
Wales now has one of the highest vacancy rates in the 海角视频 at 17%, only second behind the North East of England at 17.5%. This was up from 16.5% in the first three months of 2023, and 0.3 percentage point higher than the same period 12 months earlier (16.7%).
While the number of empty shops on Welsh high streets rose to 16.9%, up from 16.3% in Q1 2023. However, vacancies in shopping centres fell slightly from 22.3% in the first three months of this year to 22.2%. Retail parks in Wales recorded the lowest vacancy rates, down from 10.7% (Q1 2023) to 10.2%.
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Head of the WRC, Sara Jones, said: “The upward trajectory is bad news for local economies who rely upon retail as a mainstay of the high street, and as a key contributor to jobs and growth. This troubling increase in empty units wasn’t universal across all destinations however, with retail parks and shopping centres seeing a small improvement despite a further deterioration on our high streets.”
She added that the Welsh Government’s recently launched Retail Action Plan has the potential to offer real opportunity for growth for Welsh retailers, but that it must be backed up with “early action and intervention” to allow that growth to be realised.
“As the Finance Minister considers her budget for the forthcoming financial year, we are calling for a freeze on business rates to prevent businesses being thwarted with eye watering uplifts to their rates bills,” she said.
“This needs to be coupled with a greater awareness of the cumulative impact of public policy making, and a moratorium on government-imposed costs. Retailers are doing all they can to shield consumers from the impact of increasing costs pressures but, with further regulation planned, this will be increasingly hard for retailers to absorb which will be bad news for business and bad news for consumers.”
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Local Data Company’s commercial director Lucy Stainton said: “The headline findings from Q2 are unlikely to have come as a surprise to anyone, with economic pressure from rising interest rates and inflation already mounting as the year began. Current challenges to businesses have been compounded by tightening discretionary spend and a dip in confidence among consumers. The economic headwinds that have made the headlines have filtered into the data, reflected in a slight rise in the overall vacancy rate.
“The high street has seen some of the most notable impacts, with rising rents and increased competition putting pressure on small and independent businesses, who may struggle to meet high operating costs. Across all location types, vacancy has reached critical levels, highlighting an ever-increasing need to redevelop units to breathe life back into retail destinations.
“Retail is a diverse industry. Each retail and leisure sub sector faces its own unique challenges, but also, importantly, has its own unique strengths. As the only location to see a decrease in long-term vacancy (more than three years) this quarter, retail parks continue to prove resilient, bolstered by their strong occupancy fundamentals and relatively small lot sizes. Retail parks have shown us excellent examples of agile strategy in action, splitting larger units into smaller ones or converting space for alternative uses to successfully revitalise vacant stock. The current climate is undeniably difficult, but it should not be overlooked that today’s retailers are more innovative and future-thinking than ever.
“With the continuing trend in mind, we do not foresee any improvements to vacancy rate in future. However, given that the latest rises in vacancy have not been particularly significant, we anticipate that any increases in the near future will be gradual.”
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