Property News - European retail rents set to fall, according to JLL

Shop rents across Europe are poised to fall, according to new research from Jones Lang LaSalle.

A study of 29 European cities showed retail rents grew by an average 3.5 per cent last year, but the final quarter showed no overall change on the third-quarter. The only cities to see a rise in rents during the year were Budapest, Lyon, Milan, Moscow and Madrid shopping centres.

And with consumer confidence across Europe recording a sharp decline in the final quarter, the outlook for retail rents is not strong.

The European Commission's consumer confidence indicator fell in most markets, with Germany, Ireland and Italy registering the largest declines.

Only Denmark, Austria and Finland recorded rises.

But the UK continues to send out mixed signals, according to JLL head of European retail research Brenna O'Roarty. She said: 'During the fourth quarter last year, prime high street rents were stable in all the UK cities we monitored. In London, prime high street rents were stable for a seventh consecutive quarter.'