The equivalent of seven Bluewater shopping centres is planned for London as the capital’s dominance as a “white hot” shopping destination was today laid bare.
Research showed more than 10 million square foot of retail space is earmarked for sites including Croydon, Battersea and Earls Court in the next few years. Extensions at Westfield London and Brent Cross shopping centres will also help balloon the supply of new shops, but surging demand from overseas retailers will keep rents at record highs, the Colliers Central London Retail Health Check report showed.
Colliers reported that double-figure rental growth in the past year in central London. On Oxford Street and Mount Street, rents rose 25% on last year, while there was a 23% hike in Sloane Street.
New stores from Roksanda Ilincic, Victoria Beckham and the Cambridge Satchel Company have swelled the ranks of luxury West End stores this year. Demand from overseas retailers is so strong that now on many streets 60% of stores are leased to international brands from America’s J Crew and Tom Ford to Denmark’s Tiger and France’s Longchamp.
Paul Souber, head of retail agency at Colliers, said: “Demand for space in the West End remains white hot. London is unquestionably seen as a number one global city.” In the past year, central London has witnessed the strongest prime rental growth since 1998 and the sharpest fall in vacancies since 2007.
Souber said the new retail planned is all part of “holistic” developments that include homes, offices, leisure space as well as amenities and infrastructure. He said: “The level of development planned is sustainable and can be accommodated. London’s population is due to grow and these developments all come with improvements in infrastructure – they really are the blueprint for how development should be.”
But some experts are concerned the new developments will adversely affect smaller neighbourhood and community shopping areas in outer London.
