Local Shopping voids steady

7th Aug 2009 07:45

Retail property group Local Shopping kept the percentage of empty premises or voids steady in the four months to July, though the market remains tough.The overall void rate was unchanged at 11.8% at end July, Within this, residential voids fell to 0.8% (March 2009: 1.1%), deliberate voids remained level at 2.6% (March 2009: 2.6%); and the commercial void rate rose to 8.5% (March 2009: 8.1%).The lettings market for smaller units remains active and Local Shopping says it has 30 units under offer, which it expects to produce annual rental income of £302,480, together with a 1.7% reduction in our void rate.The group sold 13 properties in the period for a total of £2.41m, 4.0% above their March 2009 valuation, while buying 12 properties for £3.59m at an average net initial yield of 7.94%.'Current market conditions remain very challenging. While we are beginning to see some value emerging, our main focus is to ensure the company has a strong financial platform from which to exploit the acquisition opportunities that these market conditions will undoubtedly provide in the coming months,' joint chief executive Mike Riley said.