Nearly one in five shops in the North are empty

The regional divide has been highlighted by The Local Data Company (LDC) as it revealed that the rate of shop vacancies across the country stood at 13.3 per cent at the end of last year, down from a February 2012 peak of 14.6 per cent.

The worst regional area is the North East, with a shop vacancy rate of 18.8 per cent in the second half of 2014, a fall of 0.3 per cent on a year ago. The best region is London, with a vacancy rate of 8.7 per cent after a fall of 0.4 per cent.

Local Data Company director, Matthew Hopkinson, said: “At a regional level the polarisation between the North and the South is as wide as ever, with London’s vacancy rate being less than half that of the northern regions.”

The report also found that 20 per cent of all shops it tracked had been vacant for more than three years, which amounts to almost 10,000 outlets.

Mr Hopkinson, said: “This is the equivalent of five Manchesters lying empty.”

The North West has led the country in terms of shop vacancies since 2008 but has now been edged out by the North East.

The top ten worst town centres for vacant retail and leisure space contain are in the West Midlands - which has five.

Four in the North West and one in the North East. The top three are Burslem in Staffordshire with a vacancy rate of 29.4 per cent, Stoke-on-Trent with a vacancy of 27.7 per cent and Hartlepool, with a vacancy rate of 27.3 per cent.

Six of the top ten best town centres are in Greater London and the South East.

The top three are Debden in Essex which boasts a 0 per cent vacancy rate, as does Highgate in London, while Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire has a 0.9 per cent rate.

Last month Tesco said it will close 43 stores and scrap the opening of 49 new outlets, while Morrisons said it will shut ten as a response to losses incurred during the ongoing supermarket price war.

Mr Hopkinson added: “While the numbers announced to date are small beer to the totals, the significance lies with the fact that whilst traditional shops have been closing it has been the supermarkets and convenience stores that have been expanding significantly which has kept the occupancy rates balanced.

“The question as to who will occupy these newly vacant stores as well as those, which have been empty for a while is a very difficult one to answer positively.”

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