Survey shows preference for town centre shopping - commercial mortgages

06 February 2008

In news which may interest investors with commercial mortgages, a new survey has shown that the majority of consumers prefer not to shop out-of-town.

Research for Shopping Centres, a report compiled on behalf of Key Note, has found that 61.4 per cent of shoppers prefer to do their purchasing in town centres, reports the Retail Bulletin.

This compared with 44.8 per cent who shop regularly at out-of-town shopping centres and 38.9 per cent who frequent retail parks.

News of the survey comes as 2.4 million square metres of shopping space is expected to be created between now and 2012, the magazine notes.

Those investing in commercial property may find this survey prompts them to consider town centre retail developments ahead of others.

One town centre which is experiencing major investment including a new shopping centre is Dewsbury.

The West Yorkshire town will also see offices and a hotel included in the new commercial property to be built in the revamp.