Minimal decrease in the number of vacant retail properties

Yet 1 in 10 retail properties are still empty. The high vacancy rate in main shopping areas remains worrying. It is striking that Bruges has less vacancy than the West Flemish average.

“We are slightly optimistic that the rising vacancy figures of recent years will finally come to an end, but there is still a lot of work to be done,” says Vincent Kint, managing director of UNIZO West Flanders.

Shop shift

UNIZO advocates a shopping shift in which no additional retail space is created outside the current cores. It is an unbridled expansion in shopping centres, retail warehouses and peripheral locations that has brought us to these high vacancy figures.