Obsolete high street retail spaces could deliver 25,000 new homes

Research from national UK estate agent, Keller Williams UK, has found that the demise of the UK’s retail industry has left empty premises with enough space to provide nearly 25,000 homes to a market value of £7.4bn.

Keller Williams analysed the potential square footage of thousands of high street stores used by 38 big retail brands to have ceased trading, or that are due to close this year.

Based on the average square footage of A1 retail space (2,195 sq ft), Keller Williams estimates that these ongoing closures will leave some 19,735,230 square foot of unused retail space across the UK.

With the average UK property coming in at just 790 square feet, this redundant retail bricks and mortar could pave the way for a potential 24,981 new homes.

With the current average UK new build valued at £297,104, that’s a huge £7.4bn in new homes that could be developed and delivered to the market, providing a considerable boost to stock supply.

Perhaps the biggest retail casualty has been Debenhams and their extensive high street presence would account for the vast majority of the new housing stock potential.

The former giant of the UK high street has already liquidated 52 stores with the remaining 45 to close by 15th May this year. These 97 stores are thought to occupy 13,628,740 square feet of retail space, enough for 17,252 homes with a current market value of £5.1bn.

CEO of Keller Williams UK, Ben Taylor, commented:

“It’s been incredibly sad to see the demise of the high street hastened due to the pandemic, with many big names shutting their doors for good having been unable to survive months on end with no customer footfall.

Hopefully, as lockdown restrictions continue to ease we will see a resurgence from the retail sector and some of these former premises can once again be used as intended. However, it’s becoming abundantly clear that we simply don’t shop in the same way we used to and so physical retail outlets are likely to remain largely redundant in many high streets up and down the nation.

At the same time, we’re seeing a lack of housing stock failing to satisfy the appetites of UK homebuyers, while housebuilders and the government continue to fail year on year in meeting delivery targets.

Developing unused retail space into housing could be a great way of repopulating our high streets, if only from a social standpoint, while also delivering some sorely needed housing stock to the market.”

Sources Based on store numbers multiplied by average size of A1 retail space at 2,195 sq ft Based on estimated available space divided by the average UK house size of 790 sq ft Based on the number of potential homes multiplied by the current average new build house price of £297,104
Brand	Expected, potential & confirmed store closures	Estimated available space for conversion to housing (sq ft)	Potential number of homes if converted	Potential value of new homes
Debenhams	97	13,628,740	17,252	£5,125,513,931
Arcadia Group (Burton, Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge, Wallis, Evans)	440	965,800	1,223	£363,219,296
Peacocks	423	928,485	1,175	£349,185,824
Poundstretcher	250	548,750	695	£206,374,600
Brighthouse	240	526,800	667	£198,119,616
Bonmarche	226	496,070	628	£186,562,639
Age UK	133	291,935	370	£109,791,287
Paperchase	127	278,765	353	£104,838,297
Oak Furnitureland	27	59,265	75	£22,288,441
Oasis and Warehouse	92	201,940	256	£75,945,853
Jaeger	76	166,820	211	£62,737,878
DW Sports	75	164,625	208	£61,912,380
Laura Ashley	70	153,650	194	£57,784,888
TM Lewin	65	142,675	181	£53,657,396
Edinburgh Wollen Mill and Ponden Mill (EWM Group	64	140,480	178	£52,831,898
Kath Kidston	60	131,700	167	£49,529,904
Oddbins	56	122,920	156	£46,227,910
M&Co	47	103,165	131	£38,798,425
Hearing and Mobility (HHML)	27	59,265	75	£22,288,457
Victoria's Secret (UK)	25	54,875	69	£20,637,460
Beales	22	48,290	61	£18,160,965
Harveys Furniture	20	43,900	56	£16,509,968
Hawkins Bazaar	20	43,900	56	£16,509,968
Antler	18	39,510	50	£14,858,971
Jessops	17	37,315	47	£14,033,473
Johnson's Shoes	12	26,340	33	£9,905,981
Peter Jones (China)	10	21,950	28	£8,254,984
Le Pain Quotidien	10	21,950	28	£8,254,984
Norville Group	9	19,755	25	£7,429,486
Soletrader	8	17,560	22	£6,603,987
Oliver Sweeney Trading	7	15,365	19	£5,778,489
J Crew	6	13,170	17	£4,952,990
TJ Hughes outlet division	6	13,170	17	£4,952,990
Aldo (UK)	5	10,975	14	£4,127,492
Brooks Brothers (UK)	4	8,780	11	£3,301,994
The Hummingbird Bakery	3	6,585	8	£2,476,495
Autonomy Clothing	3	6,585	8	£2,476,495
DVF Studio	1	2,195	3	£825,498
All	2801	19,546,020	24,765	£7,357,661,591