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Retail OSCAR continues to provide owners and occupiers the opportunity to identify changes in service charge costs on a year by year basis and to benchmark the costs of individual shopping centres and their particular environment.
It is important to stress the unique nature of individual shopping centres and their environments, which means direct comparisons should be made with care.
This year's report covers 41.5 million square feet of retail space across 116 shopping centres of various sizes, types and locations across the UK with a combined total service charge expenditure in excess of £200 million.
The principal findings of this years report have shown:
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| 1. Of the 77 centres which were included in both the 2007 and 2008 reports 48% reported no increase in total service charge expenditure, while 10% have shown increases broadly in line with RPI and the remaining 42% have reported year on year increases in excess of RPI |
2. The average service charge by type (including exceptional expenditure) has increased over the past 12 months from £4.45 per sq ft to £4.56 per sq ft - an increase of 2.5%. Average service charge by type (excluding exceptional expenditure) has increased from £4.33 per sq ft to £4.36 per sq ft
3. Service charge expenditure has decreased in Enclosed Air Conditioned, Enclosed Non Air Conditioned and Part Enclosed schemes. Expenditure in Open schemes has increased as a result of increased Exceptional Expenditure. This increase is driving the increase in the overall average
4. Utilities and Security costs continue to rise for the 5th year in succession. Management costs have also risen in 2008. Cleaning costs have risen in 2008 after remaining constant in 2007
5. For the 2nd consecutive year Marketing/Promotional and Hard Services expenditure has decreased
6. Exceptional Expenditure has continued to rise in 2008
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| 7. Region 1 remains the most expensive region in the UK for the eleventh consecutive year |
8. As a general rule economies of scale exist, with large centres benefiting from proportionately more retail space being serviced from the common areas, resulting in lower levels of service charge compared to small centres
9. The focus for 2009 must be to grow the sample size and fill the current informational gaps. | |
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