Retail units data for 2015 and 2025
Case reference FOI2026/00781
Received 31 March 2026
Published 7 April 2026
Request
This is a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act.
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CLARIFICATION RECEIVED FROM REQUESTER:
Properties with the following SCat and Primary Description codes are the ones I am interested in:
086 S Departmental and Walk Round Stores (Large)
154 G Large Shops (750 - 1850m²)
155 S Large Shops (Over 1850m²)
249 G Shops
508 G Shops Within/Part of Specialist Property
If there are any other codes which might cover, for example, specific types of outlet such as a charity shop which I have not spotted on the list, please do highlight this to me.
Please process the original request with the above codes qualifying the term "retail units".
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Please provide the following:
1) According to the most recent data held by the council, how many retail units are there within your local authority area?
2) For the above, please provide both the number of vacant units and the number of occupied units.
3) Please provide the date for when this information was last updated.
4) In the calendar year 2025, how much was paid to the council in business rates from businesses registered as retail outlets?
5) How many retail units were registered with the council in the year 2015?
6) For the above, please provide both the number of vacant units and the number of occupied units.
7) In the calendar year 2015, how much was paid to the council in business rates from businesses registered as retail outlets?
Response
This is a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act.
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CLARIFICATION RECEIVED FROM REQUESTER:
Properties with the following SCat and Primary Description codes are the ones I am interested in:
086 S Departmental and Walk Round Stores (Large)
154 G Large Shops (750 - 1850m²)
155 S Large Shops (Over 1850m²)
249 G Shops
508 G Shops Within/Part of Specialist Property
If there are any other codes which might cover, for example, specific types of outlet such as a charity shop which I have not spotted on the list, please do highlight this to me.
Please process the original request with the above codes qualifying the term "retail units".
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Please provide the following:
1) According to the most recent data held by the council, how many retail units are there within your local authority area?
Answer: 1,435 units.
The Service Area have advised, to enable a figure to be identified within the confines of the data we hold and the details of the request, we’ve had to use the valuation codes beginning with CS on our schedules from the Valuation Office. These equate to the following SCAT Codes:
021 – Banks/Insurance/Building Society Offices and Other A2 Uses
024 – Betting Offices
139 – Hypermarkets/Superstores (over 2500m2)
154 – Large Shops (750 – 1850m2)
155 – Large Shops (over 1850m2)
235 – Retail Warehouses and Foodstores
243 – Sales Kiosks
249 – Shops
251 – Showrooms
259 – Sports & Leisure Centres (Private/Dry only)
417 – Hairdressing/Beauty Salons
429 – Post Offices
504 – Kiosks Within/Part of Specialist Property
We have no properties with code 086 or 508 at the present time.
2) For the above, please provide both the number of vacant units and the number of occupied units.
Answer: Vacant = 133
Occupied = 1,302
3) Please provide the date for when this information was last updated.
Answer: 6th February 2026
4) In the calendar year 2025, how much was paid to the council in business rates from businesses registered as retail outlets?
Answer: As previously advised, this question would exceed the Appropriate Time Limit which equates to 18 hours as defined by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limits and Fees) Regulations 2004, to answer as requested. (For more information, please refer to the FOI2026/00033 response letter dated 11th February 2026).
The Service Area have advised this question cannot be answered in terms of those properties only identified in the answer to Q1. The software records the collection rate for the complete database for a particular financial year. It is not split into types of business sectors.
However, although we are unable to answer this question as requested, we can provide the total amount of Business Rates collected for 2025/26.
As at 1st February 2026, the collection rate for 2025/26 Business Rates was £49,996,675.01 collected, against a net charge of £54,879,279.10 = 91.10%
5) How many retail units were registered with the council in the year 2015?
Answer: This information is not available. The Service Area have advised, whilst some data from that financial year is retained, there is not enough to enable to drill down for the answer to this particular question.
6) For the above, please provide both the number of vacant units and the number of occupied units.
Answer: As the information for 5) is not available, this cannot be answered in the context of the request.
However, information on the total number of properties on the database and whether they were occupied or not is available as follows:
As at 31st March 2016 (at the end of 2015/16), there were 7,925 properties on the database. 688 were empty.
7) In the calendar year 2015, how much was paid to the council in business rates from businesses registered as retail outlets?
Answer: This cannot be answered in the original context of the request, for the same reasons given in part 4 and part 5.
However, information on the total amount of Business Rates collected as at the end of financial year 2015/16 is as follows:
As at 31st March 2016 (as at the end of 2015/16), the collection rate was £48,488,152.23 collected, against a net charge of £49,212,300.13 = 98.53%.
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