Colliers: Retail rents continue to soften
Retail rents in the North West continued to fall in line with the national trend in the past year but at a greater rate of decline, according to the Colliers International Midsummer Retail Report 2012 launched on Wednesday at an event at Argent's The Hive in Manchester.
Greg Styles, head of retail development at Colliers, said: "Rents in the larger centres and regional hubs have on the whole remained robust but of these centres, only Chester enjoyed marked rental growth.
"Just three places overall enjoyed rental growth, with the others being Ellesmere Port and Widnes. The recovery in Widnes is in part because of the improved tenant line up for the town following the opening of the 150,000 sq ft Widnes Shopping Park in 2010.
"The most significant levels of rental decline have been in peripheral secondary towns in the North West. The worst performing of these towns have been Birkenhead and Whitehaven which have seen falls of 20% and 25% respectively. In Birkenhead some of this decline has been attributed to the opening of a new 90,000 sq ft Asda foodstore at the end of 2011."
Colliers' figures for North West retail prime rents
Centre |
2011 |
2012 |
% Change |
Birkenhead |
100 |
80 |
-20.0 |
Bootle |
60 |
55 |
-8.3 |
Ellesmere Port |
40 |
45 |
12.5 |
Liverpool |
265 |
265 |
0.0 |
Southport |
60 |
60 |
0.0 |
St Helens |
90 |
85 |
-5.6 |
Altrincham |
80 |
70 |
-12.5 |
Ashton-under-Lyne |
85 |
80 |
-5.9 |
Barrow-in-Furness |
50 |
45 |
-10.0 |
Blackburn |
120 |
110 |
-8.3 |
Blackpool |
100 |
90 |
-10.0 |
Bolton |
105 |
100 |
-4.8 |
Burnley |
80 |
80 |
0.0 |
Bury |
110 |
100 |
-9.1 |
Carlisle |
120 |
110 |
-8.3 |
Chester |
195 |
200 |
2.6 |
Chorley |
60 |
55 |
-8.3 |
Crewe |
60 |
55 |
-8.3 |
Kendal |
65 |
60 |
-7.7 |
Lancaster |
105 |
100 |
-4.8 |
Macclesfield |
80 |
75 |
-6.3 |
Manchester |
250 |
250 |
0.0 |
Northwich |
50 |
45 |
-10.0 |
Oldham |
90 |
80 |
-11.1 |
Preston |
130 |
115 |
-11.5 |
Rochdale |
75 |
65 |
-13.3 |
Runcorn |
50 |
50 |
0.0 |
Sale |
40 |
40 |
0.0 |
Salford |
50 |
50 |
0.0 |
St Annes on Sea |
40 |
40 |
0.0 |
Stockport |
145 |
135 |
-6.9 |
Stretford |
60 |
60 |
0.0 |
Trafford Centre |
400 |
400 |
0.0 |
Warrington |
90 |
85 |
-5.6 |
Whitehaven |
40 |
30 |
-25.0 |
Widnes |
50 |
55 |
10.0 |
Wigan |
90 |
90 |
0.0 |
Wilmslow |
65 |
65 |
0.0 |
Workington |
50 |
50 |
0.0 |
NW average |
97.3 |
92.9 |
-4.5 |
UK average |
111.1 |
109.8 |
-1.2 |