High Street rents are incredibly high. I'm in one of the poorest UK cities, but even here - with (literally) every other shop empty - rents are phenomenal.

But then property owners are accruing financial value through property price rises, they don't need to have leasees, they're still making money.

I don't understand why the Council isn't super harsh on property maintenance (absent landlords let their properties bring down the appearance of an area); and why the gov. don't levy high taxes for empty commercial properties. IMO high-street properties that are empty should be a heavy loss on landlords.