RENTS ON Dublin’s Grafton Street have fallen by a considerably larger margin than those on Henry Street since the market peaked in 2007.

The latest Lisney rental indices shows that Grafton Street rents have dropped by 13.11 per cent more than those on Henry Street. The report, by Aoife Brennan of Lisney, blamed the “poor physical environment” of Grafton Street and the restrictions on the type of shops permitted. In the last three months, rents on the street dropped at a slower pace than in the preceding two quarters, falling by 4.17 per cent. The pace of decline on Henry Street was also slower at 5.56 per cent.

On an annual basis, the overall retail index of rents fell by 28.69 per cent up to today. The decline in rents has been 42.02 per cent since the market peaked in the latter half of 2007.

Interestingly, there was no quarterly decline in Dublin suburban shopping centre rents in Q2. However, on an annual basis they were down by 31.03 per cent.

High street rents in Cork, Limerick and Galway also fell at a slower pace in the last two quarters with an average decline of 6.45 per cent in Q2. Limerick continued to fare the worst. Since the market peaked, all high street rents in the provinces are now down an average of 40.82 per cent.

The office rental sector showed even greater falls since 2007, declining by 49.94 per cent. With the vacancy rate in Dublin city centre at an all time high of 18.9 per cent, rents in Dublin 2 and 4 continued to be under downward pressure in Q2, falling by a further 6.77 per cent. On an annual basis, the decline was 24.87 per cent – noticeably larger than in the suburbs. The north suburbs fared best with values down by 26.15 per cent from peak while the south and west suburbs have fallen by 45.39 and 40.71 per cent.