New research from Trevor Wood Associates found that at the end of 2015, Northern Ireland’s retail warehouse vacancy rate was at 11.9%, the highest in the UK.
“The Definitive Guide to Retail & Leisure Parks 2016”, which was released on Wednesday, found that the rate was up from the first half of 2015, where it was at 9.7%.
The main reason for the high vacancy rates, according to the research, was three significant closures of B&Q stores in Belfast, Londonderry and Ballymena.
Senior Partner of Trevor Wood Associates, Trevor Wood, commented: “We studied over 1,500 retail and leisure parks and major retail warehouse developments across the UK, with detailed historic information for every one of the 15,600 retail warehouse units in the country.”
He goes on to say that since the review last year “a small number of new sites have joined the future development pipeline such as the next phase of The Quays Shopping & Leisure in Newry, which could ease the demand for available space.”
Every site in Northern Ireland was monitored, including 46 retail parks.
