THE slowdown in UK shopping centre development is expected to worsen, suggests new research.
Just over 500,500 sq ft of new shopping centre space was added to the market in the first half of 2011, according to the report from property consultancy Cushman and Wakefield.
The region has two schemes in the pipeline – The Cube in Birmingham, due to open fully this year, and the Tesco Centre in West Bromwich in 2013.
More than 2.3m sq ft of shopping centre space is due to open in the second half of the year across the UK which brings the projected 2011 completion total to nearly 2.8m sq ft, says the report.
Although 12% higher than in 2010, the figure is massively skewed by Westfield Stratford City which accounts for 81% of the pipeline for H2 2011 and 67% of the projected 2011 development total.
Apart from Stratford, only two new schemes are scheduled to open in H2 2011 – in Newbury and the retail element of The Cube which will be 76,400 sq ft.
On July 1, 2011, total shopping centre floor space in the UK stood at nearly 177.6m sq ft across 698 schemes.
The report added that completions were expected to slow dramatically next year with the 570,400 sq ft Tesco West Bromwich scheme being delayed to 2013 from its original 2012 opening date.
At present, 2012 is expected to see the lowest annual provision of new shopping centre space in the UK for more than 50 years, Cushman and Wakefield predicted.
Rob Alston, retail partner in Birmingham, said: “We predict an upswing in development activity towards 2015.
“The key for developers is not to oversupply and to ensure that new space is designed to meet specific retailer requirements.”
