Darling Street, Enniskillen
VACANT commercial premises in two much sought-after ‘business’ streets in Enniskillen, Belmore Street and Darling Street are away above the average vacancy figure for Northern Ireland.
A local DoE Planning Division report for 2015 quotes the commercial property vacancy rate for the north at 15.3 per cent.
However, the figure for Belmore Street (25.5 per cent) and Darling Street (29.7 per cent) lends credence to the theory that rents are beyond people’s reach.
The report does suggest that the high vacancy could be due to the two streets location on the periphery, but they are within easy walking distance of the town centre – 700 yards in the case of Belmore Street and 300 yards for Darling Street.
Local Sinn Fein MLA, Phil Flanagan has no doubt where the blame lies.
“The fact that vacancy rates in Enniskillen are so high and, yet the price of property remains far higher than other comparable towns, is extremely worrying.
“It indicates to me that the market is not working for the needs of those who want property, but rather is being manipulated by those who have an interest in driving up commercial rents in Enniskillen.”
He said he was aware of landlords holding onto vacant commercial properties instead of leasing them out at a reduced rate.
On the other hand, Jonathan Styles, who is a member of the Enniskillen Business Partnership, suggested that the vacancy blight, while ‘always a worry’, was not unique to Enniskillen.
He stated: “Every town in Northern Ireland has suffered over the last eight or nine years, and you’re going to have a situation where the number of shops is going to drop until a point where the economy recovers and the sense of entrepeneurship comes back.”
For the record, Belmore Street has 49 commercial premises of which 13 are vacant, and Darling Street has 37, with 11 of those empty.
Next in line comes Forthill Street where 7 out of 26 commercial premises are vacant, then Townhall Street (4 out of 31 empty) and three streets, each of which has three empty properties, Head Street, Anne Street and Erneside Shopping Centre where there are three empty units out of 35 vacant.
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