THERE ARE OVER 26,500 empty commercial units in Ireland, a new report has shown.
Overall 11.9 per cent, nearly one in eight, of the country’s 223,433 properties were empty in the second quarter of 2013, an increase of half a per cent on the first three months of the year.
The report, carried out by GeoDirectory, a joint initiative of An Post and Ordnance Survey Ireland, shows that 14 counties have vacancy rates higher than the national average, while Sligo (15.2 per cent), Galway (13.8 per cent) and Leitrim (13.8 per cent) had the highest rates of empty commercial units.
The lowest rates in the country, between 9 and 10 per cent, were recorded in counties Kerry, Meath, Westmeath and Wexford.
All five cities have a higher vacancy rate than the national average vacancy rate. Limerick City has the highest vacancy rate among the cities studied at 17.2 per cent, followed by Galway at 15.8 per cent. Cork city has the lowest commercial vacancy rate of 13 per cent.
The report also found that Dublin City has more commercial premises than the cities of Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford combined.
Mark Fielding of the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME) said that the numbers were not a surprise, suspecting that they are actually worse.
“From our feedback from our members, we thought it was actually worse than that. We would have a suspicion that the numbers are closer to one in seven or one in six in some places.
“There are a number of reasons for the vacancies; the country is in recession which has lessened consumer spending and demand.
We also built a hell of a lot of property during the Celtic Tiger, so we have an oversupply. Added to that, upward only rent reviews add to the problem.
“We have a feeling those numbers will dis-improve over the next six months.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say