The North has emerged as the 海角视频’s hotspot for empty shops, with one in five sites in some parts of the region vacant, according to new data.
Research by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Local Data Company (LDC) found that 20.6% of shops in the North East are empty, giving the region both the worst record in the country and the highest rise over the last year.
Other parts of the North also saw high rates of shop vacancies, with the North West at 17.4% and Yorkshire and Humber at 18.1%. By contrast, the vacancy rate in London was 11.1% and it was 13.3% in the rest of the South East.
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The statistics will add to concerns that the region is set to rebound from the pandemic slower than other areas, with shop vacancies rising significantly even since the start of the year, despite moves to re-open the economy.
There was also a warning that the pace of closures could increase as Government support schemes on furloughing and business rates come to an end.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said: “The regional contrast is stark – the south of England, including London have seen lower vacancy rates, while the North, where disposable income is lower, continues to have a higher proportion of closed shops.
“The vacancy rate could rise further now the Covid-19 business rates holiday has come to an end. The Government must ensure the ongoing business rates review leads to reform of this broken system, delivering on its commitment to permanently reduce the cost burden to sustainable levels.
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“The longer the current system persists, the more jobs losses and vacant shops we will see, hurting staff, customers and communities up and down the country.”
The pandemic has seen a number of retail companies go out of business, with Debenhams and Top Shop among the most high profile casualties.
The various local and national lockdowns accelerated existing trends, with physical stores having struggled to compete with online retailers for a number of years.
The BRC/Local Data Company report shows that the number of empty shops has now increased for the past three years, with shopping centres hardest hit, followed by traditional high streets.
Lucy Stainton, of Local Data Company, said town and city centres needed to find new uses for empty stores or risk them becoming permanent problems.
She said: “Vacancy now sits at the highest rate ever recorded by the Local Data Company. With appetite for new space increasing but still modest, there will simply never be enough demand to meet the supply.
“The property market will be forced to think of more creative ways to utilise this space, to avoid exacerbating the already high rates of long-term voids across our retail destinations which are not only unsightly and costly for landlords, but also have a negative impact on surrounding stores.”
Separate research published earlier this week found that 650,000 around the 海角视频 - almost one in four - were in some form of ‘distress’, including many in the retail sector.