Highest number of empty shops in town centres are found in the North East

Feb 12 2010 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

NORTH East town centres are among the worst affected by the recession with one in five shops standing empty in some places.

The region, along with the Midlands and Kent in the South East, is suffering from the highest vacancy rates in the country at around 14%.

The figures, put together by the Local Data Company (LDC), show that increasing numbers of shops are standing empty – despite official confirmation the UK emerged from recession in the last three months of 2009.

The number of empty shops in Newcastle rose to 777 – up by 5.87% between June and December last year.

The next biggest rise was in Gateshead, where vacancies increased by 1.9%, followed by a 1.3% rise in Durham.

Although Newcastle had the biggest increase in vacancies, Gateshead had the highest percentage of empty shops at almost 23%, compared to nearly 17% in Newcastle and Sunderland. The regional average was 14%, well ahead of the national average of 12.4%.

The figures, revealed at the British Property Federation Retail Summit, were based on research in more than 700 town centres in England and Wales. Vacancy numbers had almost doubled since 2008, the survey revealed.

British Property Federation boss Liz Peace said: “The fact of the matter is that Brits now do a lot more shopping over the web, so we’re seeing a fundamental reshaping of high streets.

The British Retail Consortium said that there are a number of causes.

Its director general, Stephen Robertson, said: “High street shops are often battling big bills for business rates and rents, parking and access difficulties, as well as failure to manage and invest in the area.

“High streets are the heart of local communities and economies – providing jobs and essential services. Their future success cannot be left to chance.

“Town centres need to be actively managed by local authorities with their retailers and residents.”