The vacancy rate in Belgian shopping streets has increased significantly last year, with 11.2 % of retail properties now standing empty. This marks a concerning reversal after years of gradual decline.
Shopping centres more resilient
At the beginning of the year, 21,546 retail spaces were unoccupied, Locatus states. This is the highest since the previous peak of 2021 (at 11.8 %), since when vacancy rates had slightly decreased. The bankruptcies of several major retailers have significantly contributed to this trend. Notably, shopping centres have been largely unaffected, with an average vacancy rate of 6.7 %. Locatus cites Shopping Ring Kortrijk as a prime example, with only 2 % of its retail spaces vacant.
On the other hand, the centres of medium-sized cities are the hardest hit, with an average vacancy rate of 17.5 %. Péruwelz, in the province of Hainaut, even has a vacancy rate of 32.8 %. Even more worryingly, the biggest city of the province, Charleroi, even has a vacancy rate of over one in three (at 36.2 %).
The persistent vacancy problem poses a significant challenge for Belgian city centres. Given the structural changes in the retail landscape, it is unrealistic to expect that all vacant properties will be reoccupied by retailers. Alternative solutions will be necessary, such as transforming retail spaces into residential and work areas, or redeveloping them into multifunctional centres.
An important sidenote is that Locatus also counts bank branches as retail spaces. Belgium had maintained a relatively high number of bank branches for a long time, but that changed last year when ING closed over a hundred branches. Moreover, the same number of bank branches were lost after the merger of AXA and Crelan.
