Empty Scottish shops ‘highlight need for rent and rates support’

The number of empty shops across Scotland has highlighted the need for rent and rates support, according to one industry body.

The Scottish shop vacancy rate across all shopping locations was 12.9% in Q2 2020, the same rate as seen in Q1.

Broken down, the rate was 12.4% for high streets 15.8% for shopping centres and 9.5% for retail parks.

Regionally, Scotland compared unfavourably with the UK vacancy rate of 12.4%.

David Lonsdale, director at the Scottish Retail Consortium, said even prior to the pandemic, one in every eight stores in Scotland lay empty.

He said: “The upheaval wrought by coronavirus has yet to wash through these figures, which is unsurprising given most shops have been shuttered for much of the past quarter and were permitted to reopen only in the last few weeks.

“Scotland’s shops and retail destinations will only survive with the ongoing patronage of the public.

“The extent to which retail remains the cornerstone of our high streets and can continue to employ hundreds of thousands of Scots will also depend on the decisions made by parliaments and governments.

“Government support for retail during the current crisis has been significant and rapid.

“But with retailers’ revenues falling short, more support is likely to be required – on rent payments, which for many have been accumulating, and on business rates in order to avoid next spring’s ‘reverse cliff edge’ when 100% rates are scheduled to be reinstated.”

Lucy Stainton, head of retail at the Local Data Company, said a spike in vacancy rates is predicted over the coming months, with a 0.2 percentage point increase recorded in the first three weeks of Q3.

“Towns which will be hit the hardest will be those with a vacancy rate higher than the GB average pre-Covid-19 and those with a low number of ‘essential’ retailers which would not have been able retain as much footfall during lockdown,” she added.