Chichester city centre performing well, says surveyor Flude

Chichester city centre continues to perform well, with business lettings picking up in the second half, according to property consultancy Flude.

After a slow start to the year, the second half of the year to date has been "really promising" with the firm's retail and leisure team involved in 12 lettings- or around 18,000 sq ft of accommodation, it said.

READ MORE: Flude completes sale of Hove mixed use property

East Street in the city has seen two notable transactions, with Mint Velvet relocating to 19-20 in the street, providing them with 2,500 sq ft of retail space on the ground floor, together with ancillary accommodation above.

The other letting was to Pret a Manger who were previously in the city and have decided to reopen at 31-32 East Street, at a site totalling 2,000 sq ft. Other openings in the city include We Are Yarn, The Rare Brand Market, Trojan Barbers and Black Sheep Coffee, reported Flude.

"It is great to see occupiers staying in the city and also new ones opening, said Flude director Sebastian Martin.

"In my view, lots of the demand can be attributed to the reduction in Business Rates which Chichester always struggled with and landlords being open minded to the types of leases which some occupiers are seeking in today’s market. Also the rebasing of rents has helped."

Occupiers repositioning themselves within locations they already sit has definitely been a theme over the last few years, added the firm. In Chichester, Flude said it had seen Greggs and Barnardos do this.

Vacancy levels in Chichester are currently around 6% which is well below the national average of 13.8% (British Retail Consortium).

There continues to be good demand for well positioned and configured retail units within Chichester with a number of the vacant ones under offer, it added.

With over 25 years operating in the South coast property market, Flude has now grown to be one of the largest surveying practices in the South East and on the South Coast with offices in Brighton, Chichester and Portsmouth.

Visit Hampshire Biz News for bright, upbeat and positive business news from the county