A new report from the Local Data Company has shown that the number of short-term vacant units across towns in the UK has increased by 85% during the first quarter of 2016.
Britain's shop vacancy remained at 12.5% in March, the lowest since January 2010, though a 0.2% improvement on the start of the year.

Breaking the numbers down into categories, the report highlights that the shopping centre vacancy rate is currently at 13.2%, down 1.5% in March 2016 compared with last year. The retail park vacancy rate currently stands at 6%, and improved across all UK regions, according to the LDC.

Town centres, meanwhile, have seen their vacancy rate unchanged for the third consecutive month at 10.9%. Compared with March last year, the vacancy rate dropped by 0.4%. The worst affected area was in Scotland, which was the only UK region to see an increase in vacancy rate of 0.5% over the past year.

Persistent vacancy - those units vacant for longer than three years - decreased in Q1 2016 by 0.1%. The only persistent vacancy rate category to see an increase was the number of units vacant for less than one year (short-term vacancies). This number almost doubled from 1,141 units in Q4 2015 to 2,108 in Q1 2016, an 85% increase.

LDC director Matthew Hopkinson said: "March's data shows an interesting pattern of continuing improvement in the occupation of shopping centres and retail parks but no improvements in high streets. There are two key areas of note in this data. The first, is that short term vacant units are remaining vacant for longer. This begs the question of whether optimal occupation levels have been achieved in many locations or not. Should the trend continue, the increased polarisation between locations where shops close and open versus those where shops just close, would grow.

"The polarisation of places is clearly seen at a regional level. This is the second key area to note. The fact that the number of units which have been vacant for more than three years in Wales, the North West, the North East and the West Midlands is double than that of London and the South West.

"Consumer confidence remains fragile and April has seen the arrival of the National Living Wage, which will increase costs significantly for retailers. Only time will tell as to who will have to reduce their number of shops accordingly, by focusing their investment on the healthier locations whilst the weaker locations continue to weaken and lose any shopping attractions that they might currently have."