Retail rents fall as tough trading conditions take toll

Rents at prime high street shops edged down 1% in the first three months of 2019, greater than the 0.4% decline in the final two quarters of last year, City AM reported.

Shopping centre and retail warehouse prime rents fell 1.3% and 1% respectively in the first quarter, according to data from property giant CBRE.

“Falls in the retail sector pulled down all property results in quarter one of 2019, despite the relative strength of office and industrial performance,” said CBRE UK senior research analyst Robin Honeyman.

He said: “Our prime rent and yield data continues to show prime retail coming under pressure, both in pricing and rental values.”

In contrast to the fall in retail rents, the rental values of commercial property overall inched ahead 0.1% over the quarter, when there was demand for premises such as warehouses.

According to CBRE, the first three months of the year represented the ninth consecutive quarter of “industrial outperformance”.