by Marianne Flood

The number of vacant properties in Derry is two percent lower than the Northern Ireland average, a new report has revealed.

The report, which was carried out by the by the City Centre Initiative (CCI) in July, showed that of the 929 Units surveyed in the city a total of 128 Units were vacant.

This gives Derry a vacancy rate of 13 percent, which is two percent lower than Northern Ireland as whole.

Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Head of Business, Kevin O’Connor, presented the figures to Council’s Business and Culture Committee on Tuesday afternoon.

Mr O’Connor said it is anticipated the city’s vacancy rate will decrease further in the coming months due to the Clarendon Bar and Holiday Inn developments.

“The growth of online shopping and the dominance of major online retailers such as Amazon and Ebay has undoubtedly changed the way in which consumers purchase goods and services and has had a knock on impact in our town and City Centres,” he commented.

“A range of other issues have been cited by businesses as impediments for doing business with town and city centres.

“Among the concerns have been issues in relation to non-domestic rates, on-street car parking and footfall.”

Mr O’Connor said the NI executive had introduced a number of schemes designed to assist small businesses to grow and become more sustainable, including the recently scraped ‘Empty Premises Rate Relief scheme’.

Under the scheme, any business ratepayer who moved into a retail property which had been unoccupied for 12 months or more was entitled to 50 per cent rate relief for the first 12 months.

The scheme ran for five years but was suspended in March.

Speaking at the meeting, SDLP Councillor Shauna Cusack said more must be done to help Derry’s small businesses.

“Any commercial building without a business in it is a concern, obviously,” she said.

“Rates are a major stumbling block for anyone setting up a business in the city centre.”

Councillor Cusack proposed Derry City and Strabane District Council write to the senior civil servant in charge of the scheme and ask for it to be extended.

Her proposal also asked for investigation into any rates relief schemes that could help the city and district, following on from the work undertaken by Sinn Fein Finance Minister Máirtín Ó Muilleoir before the collapse of Stormont.

The motion was passed by the committee.

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