Both landlords and tenants of high street retail shops throughout the UK are still struggling and things are set to get worse.

The cost of living crisis, high inflation and rising interest rates are leaving consumers with no money to spend in shops.  As a consequence of this, tenants of shops are unable to pay their rent and in turn landlords are unable to pay their lenders interest on their loans. 

To make matters worse, there has been a rise in ‘first time’ shoplifters, which is dragging retailers  further down, as they are losing money from items which have been stolen and having to spend money on increased security measures and more high street shops are closing down.  Last week Lloyds and Halifax announced plans to axe 28 branches. Many landlords are now having to sell, as they cannot afford to keep vacant properties, as their costs include interest payments on their loans, empty rates, insurance premiums, marketing costs and security costs.  In many cases where landlords are having to sell, they are happy to make a loss.