Liverpool city centre’s vacancy rate continues to drop and is now half that of the national average; Liverpool’s vacancy rate is 5.4%, it is 10.4% in the North West and 11% in the UK. In the previous report, Liverpool’s vacancy rate was 6.2% and the national average was 10.2%.
The figures, collated by Liverpool BID Company and Springboard, reveal the vacancy rate, which tracks empty units at ground floor level in the city Retail & Leisure BID Area, covering the majority of the city centre. It is at its lowest since before the pandemic and takes Liverpool below London (9.2%).
For independent units, the vacancy rate has also reduced and is now at 40.7% (down from 42.2%) in Liverpool city centre, while the North West is 55.6% (up from 48.4%) and the UK is 46.9% (up from 42.7%).
The vacancy rate in Liverpool has seen a drop after rising during 2021 during the pandemic, where it reached 9.8% in October 2021 and 8.6% in January 2022. The national level has also continued to drop. It reached 11.8% in July 2021 and 11.7% a year ago in January 2021 before dropping to 10.2% and then rising to 11% in the latest figures.
Jennina O’Neill, Chair of Liverpool BID’s Retail & Leisure Board and Centre Manager at Metquarter says there are different reasons for Liverpool’s performance.
“Liverpool city centre is bucking both a national trend and a regional one. In the last report we saw a range of openings throughout the city centre having a positive impact, including Flannels, Decathlon and Albert Schloss. What those investments do is they generate confidence. We know that there will also be movement and change over any given year, especially with the challenges high street businesses are facing now, but these figures suggest an underlying confidence which is a great base from which to move forward”.
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