New spending aimed at breathing new life into high streets and town centres may well impact local house prices. The government has made a very public commitment to spending money in order to rebalance the economy, a process called ‘levelling out’. 10.7 million people, equivalent to 16% of the British population, live within 200 metres of a high street and may feel the benefit of this. According to the British Retail Consortium, 2019 was the worst year on record for UK retail sales. PwC reported that in the first half of 2019 there was a net decline (the difference between the number that opened and closed) of 1,234 stores from Britain’s top 500 high streets. Consumers have clearly favoured logging-on to walking-in, as online sales increased by 5.6% in December 2019 when compared with December 2018. Online sales comprised 19% of all retailing in December 2019. However with over 80% of all retail spend still off-line, will 2020 prove a better year?
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