Retail warehousing vacancy rates in the UK have risen for the first time in more than two years, according to the latest research from Trevor Wood Associates (TWA).
At the end of Q3 2023, the vacancy rate stood at 5.7%, compared with 5.4% in Q2 and 5.8% in Q1 2023. The increase can largely be attributed to the administration and closure of Wilko stores in September, which led to nearly 900,000 sq ft of retail warehouse space becoming vacant.
TWA said a number of the former Wilko units are under offer and B&M has confirmed it will open the Wilko units it has purchased over the next 12 months, so the current vacancy rate figure should be treated with some caution.
The vacancy rate for open A1, including food schemes, rose 1% to 5.8% from Q2 to Q3 to 5.8%, while open A1 non-food fell slightly to 6.2% (6.3% at Q2).
TWA said there is currently 2.77m sq ft of retail warehousing space under offer with an additional 530,000 sq ft earmarked for non-retail purposes and if this space was removed from its figures the vacancy rate would fall towards 4%.
Liz Williamson, from Trevor Wood Associates, said: “Although the vacancy rate has risen in the last quarter we are of the belief that this is a temporary blip and when we look at Q4 2023 and Q1 2024 figures we’ll see the trend of very low vacancy rates continue. The market is in short supply of quality retail warehousing in good locations and we expect the majority of the Wilko units will be snapped up by retailers with aggressive roll out plans looking to take advantage of these spaces made available”
