Retail sector wants action on rents

RETAILERS claim rents have fallen just 4% in the last two years while sales have plunged 30%.

In what has been described as the most “in-depth research of rent reduction activity ever” retailers said that commercial landlords have not reduced retail rents “to even close” to market rates. They said government action to abolish upward-only rent is “urgently required”.

The Retail Excellence Ireland (REI) survey of 1,418 retailers found that between 2009 and 2011 rents were cut by an average of only 3.83% and over the same period more than 50,000 retail jobs were lost, with employment in the sector falling to 255,000.