(Alliance News) - The vacancy rate among UK retail properties rose again in the first quarter of the year, numbers on Friday showed, as the sector was mired by Covid-19 restrictions and marked three successive years of increasing vacancy rates.
The British Retail Consortium-Local Data Company vacancy monitor rose to 14.1% in the first quarter from 13.7% at the end of 2020.
"This marks three years of increasing vacancy rates, from Q1 2018," the BRC said.
BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson added: "After a third national lockdown, it is no surprise that the vacancy rate has continued to soar. The forced closure of thousands of shops during the first quarter of 2021 has exacerbated already difficult conditions for the retail industry. We estimate there are around 5,000 fewer stores since the start of the pandemic, meaning 1 in 7 shops now lie empty."
Numbers from the BRC showed all retail locations saw rising vacancy rates. In shopping centres, vacancy rates rose to 18.4% in the first quarter, from 17.1% at the end of 2020.
The high street vacancy rate rose to 14.1% from 13.7%, while at retail parks, it increased to 10.6% from 10.0%
LDC Director Lucy Stainton said: "The number of vacant units has continued to increase in the first three months of this year across the country, despite much of the market being temporarily closed for during the third lockdown. With this in mind, and despite these percentages increasing significantly, we would argue that we have not yet seen the true impact of this third lockdown and this will only be obvious once the market has had the chance to re-open fully."
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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