Property investors should be wary of buying shops in Bradford, Derby and Southampton, according to a survey of UK locations likely to be hit hardest by further retailer failures. They were joined by Wolverhampton and Hull in a study by BNP Paribas Real Estate ranking the riskiest investment areas because of their high concentration of struggling retail chains and the large number of vacant units and charity shops.
The best bets were the London districts of Lewisham, Wood Green, Uxbridge and Harrow, and the city of Truro in Cornwall, south west England. The majority of risky sites were in the north of England, with Yorkshire and Humberside the worst-hit region among the survey of 100 towns and cities. "A lot of retailers are under pressure at the moment," said Tom Carlton, research analyst at Legal & General Property, which has 10.6 billion pounds ($16.8 billion) of real estate under management.