Basingstoke's empty shop crisis: Vacant units at all-time high

Whilst the town is still famed as a shopping destination, as many as 50 retail units currently lie empty, boarded up and covered in dust.

Walking around the town centre on Monday, rows of empty units have formed across the Top of Town and Festival Place. Noticeably among them is the huge unit that once housed flagship store Debenhams, to the opulent shell of the former Lloyds Bank.

A total of 19 units lay empty around the Top of Town with the closure of four major banks and the post office in recent times while at Festival Place at least 31 units are empty including the huge unit which once housed Debenhams.

In recent months, residents and business owners have expressed their concerns about the future of Basingstoke’s town centre and are questioning what is being done about it.

Leader of the council, Cllr Ken Rhatigan, said the authority is working with its partners on a range of initiatives to encourage shoppers back to town. He said none of the empty units in the Top of Town were council-owned and they are in discussions with two new potential occupiers for vacant sites at The Malls.

However, business owners say not enough is being done to support them.

Kishor Patel, owner of Surya’s International Food on Church Street, told The Gazette: “We are a family business and we’ve been here for three years. During Covid we had hardly any trade and the last 18 months have been really difficult.”

Mr Patel said he fears for the future of his business after the council increased the business rent and added thousands to their service charge.

“We’ve lost a lot of sleep over the rent increase, I don’t believe the council supporting local businesses and local families. If we have to leave the shop, we will be unemployed and so the council are lining us up to be the dole queues,” he said.

“The shop next door is closed the shop across the road is closed and if the council increase the rent then we will have to close and they will have an empty shop.

“What happens then is there is a spiral effect and less shops means less people coming in to town.”

He added: “Tell the councillors not to come for our vote next time they come round because that’s what they care about.”

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council has been contacted for comment.

Meanwhile, owner of the Mortgage Advice Bureau on Church Street, Paul Smith, said: “How can they justify a huge rent increase if the footfall has drastically decreased? They’ve increased service charges and I’ve asked for a full justification on what they have spent their money on last year.

“We also paid a lot of money to BID and we can’t get it back, even though they have closed. That money is in somebody’s account but definitely not in mine.

“When I opened up the Mortgage Advice Bureau there was six banks and a Post Office and now there’s just two banks.”

Comparing Basingstoke to neighbouring Winchester, Mr Smith added: “My wife went to Winchester on Saturday and there were lots of lovely market stalls. With such an international community why have we not got a Diwali day or other events, why haven’t we got market stalls?”

Whilst the top of town has long suffered the effects of the decline of the high street, Festival Place also appears to be struggling.

A total of 31 retail units remain unused within Festival Place and Warren James has recently announced they too will close soon.

Data from the British Retail Consortium and Local Data Company, found that fashion retailers had been hardest hit with the continued surge in online business in the sector and the closure of high street institutions including Debenhams and Topshop- both of which lay empty in Festival Place.

Figures show shopping centres were the hardest hit, with nearly one in five units sitting empty – a 19.4 per cent vacancy rate – followed by high streets with a vacancy rate of 14.5 per cent and retail parks at 11.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2021.

Speaking to The Gazette, Festival Place’s marketing manager Emily Palmer said they were always looking for new ways of attracting visitors to the town.

The shopping centre has been repurposing empty units to create pop-up shops and to display artwork.

She said: “Our vacant units give us the opportunity to showcase some of the incredibly exciting projects that local groups, colleges and charities are working on – something they wouldn’t otherwise be able to do, certainly not in such a large shopping centre.

“Over the past couple of years we have brought book barns, virtual orchestras, pop-up car shows, art exhibitions and pantos to some of our units and they go down a storm with our visitors.

She added: “We are always open to new ideas and with Christmas fast approaching – watch this space!”