UK retail warehousing vacancy rates continued to fall in Q2 2023, according to the latest data from Trevor Wood Associates (TWA).
At the end of Q2, vacancy rates stood at 5.4% compared with 6.1% at the turn of the year and 5.8% at the end of Q1 2023.
TWA said the major contributor to the “significant fall” was retailers taking advantage of second-hand stock coming to market due to administrations and CVAs.
The grocery sector continues to be active on the leasing front, with Aldi taking 237,000 sq ft of retail warehousing space so far this year, Lidl opening more than 170,000 sq ft out of town and Iceland, The Food WAREHOUSE and Farmfoods adding more than 65,000 sq ft of space to their existing portfolios.
B&M has opened or committed to open another 16 units, The Range has added 118,000 sq ft so far this year, Home Bargains added another 19 units and Poundland opened (or will open) another 215,000 sq ft of retail warehousing space.
Experiential retail and leisure occupiers continue to snap up retail warehousing space, with the likes of Tenpin due to open at Chester Retail Park and Kingsway West Retail Park in Dundee later this year. Pure Gym has also added more than 273,000 sq ft of floorspace in 2023.
Liz Williamson, of Trevor Wood Associates, said: “Since the end of 2022, with even less development taking place, second-hand supply has meant the vacancy rate of open A1 non-food units has dropped to 6.3.% from 7.3%. A further 2.9m sq ft of space is currently under offer with another 684,000 sq ft earmarked for non-retail redevelopment, meaning the percentage of space actually available to let is as low as 3.6%.”
