16% of city shops lying vacant

The report by commercial property agents Lisney said it surveyed the retail market in a sample of 17 local towns and cities and determined that 16.4 per cent of shops lie vacant in Londonderry.

That’s down on 18.7 per cent in 2012.

Overall rates in Northern Ireland have stabilised, with 19 per cent of all shops lying vacant across the province.

Declan Flynn, Managing Director of Lisney Belfast said: “In previous years our report has revealed an increase of up to 4.6 per cent in empty shops, however, since 2012 there has been no overall change in Northern Ireland Retail vacancy rates, which remain at 19 per cent, which suggests the occupancy rate has stabilised despite being higher than the UK average of 11.1%.

“Belfast has shown the most pertinent improvement with vacancies now standing at 17.2 per cent, a 5.9 per cent decrease on 2012 vacancies.

“Other towns that have improved since 2012 include Enniskillen, Derry, Coleraine and Portadown.”