Empty shops in town centres and retail parks are starting to fill up again, according to new figures from the British Council of Shopping Centres (BCSC) and the Local Data Company.

The country’s vacancy rate for retail units fell to a 6-year low of 12.5% in January, down by 0.4% on December’s figures.

This is the best rate since December 2009 and is considerably lower than the vacancy rates of 14.6% in 2012.

The year-on-year drop in vacancy rates was 0.8%.

Vacancies by type and area

The highest vacancy levels are in shopping centres, with 13.8% of stores currently empty. Town centres have a vacancy rate of 10.9%, while retail parks are lowest at 6%.

There was a year-on-year drop of 1.5% in the number of independents in shopping centres, but a 1.5% rise in the number of ‘multiples’ (more than 10 branches).

Yorkshire and the Humber saw the largest decline in vacancy rates across the country, dropping 1.6%.

Edward Cooke, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at the BCSC, says the falling rates over 3 consecutive quarters in 2015 show a long-term trend of strong consumer confidence.

He predicts this will continue into 2016.