Almost a quarter of business premises in Limerick's county town lying idle

ALMOST a quarter of business premises in Limerick’s county town were lying idle at the end of last year, new figures have shown.

Data just released from GeoDirectory’s commercial buildings report for the final quarter of 2024 have revealed that some 24.5% of Newcastle West premises were vacant. It is above the Limerick’wide average of 17.9%.

The town of Abbeyfeale had the lowest vacancy rate in all of Limerick at 18.6%, the figures show.

Alongside Donegal, Limerick County overall recorded the steepest increase in vacancy - up by nearly 1% year-on-year.

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It is also the highest vacancy rate in the province of Munster.

The rise was even more stark in Newcastle West - up 1.3% from 23.2% of shops vacant at the end of 2023 to 24.5% empty in December 2024.

Taking the city alone, the rate of premises unused stood at 20%, the survey suggests, with the highest proportion being retail and wholesale businesses.

Nationally, 14.5% of business premises lie idle, according to the GeoDirectory.

The company’s chief executive Dara Keogh said: “The national vacancy rate for commercial properties increased again in quarter four 2024, continuing the trend of recent years. At 14.5% it is now at its highest rate on record, with vacancy rates increasing in all four provinces. ”

Annette Hughes, director at EY Economic Advisory added: “While residential vacancy continues to decline significantly, dropping to just 3.8% in our most recent GeoDirectory Residential Report, commercial vacancy trends are going in the opposite direction. At 14.5% the rate now sits 1% higher than before the Covid pandemic, representing an increase of over 2,100 commercial units.”

She said this comes, despite a strong economy, growing population and record employment.

“There are likely many factors at play here including, changes triggered by the pandemic, evolving shopping preferences and continued cost pressures on businesses and households,” she said.

Sligo was the county with the highest commercial vacancy rate at 20.6%, followed closely by Donegal (20.1%) and Galway at 18.8%. The lowest commercial vacancy rates were recorded in Meath (9.9%), Wexford (10.8%) and Kerry (12.3%)

In total, 30,365 of the commercial units were vacant across the state in December 2024.

The report also found that the commercial vacancy rate increased in 15 out of 26 counties.