Landlords Face Vacant-Property Security Squeeze

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13 October 2026 | Updated 12 October 2026

Three quarters of commercial landlords say budget pressures are limiting the level of vacant-property protection they would like to put in place. This comes despite widespread expectations that risks around empty buildings will increase – and at a time when vacant property, especially in the high street, is making headlines.

The latest insight into empty property was revealed following a survey of 350 UK commercial property owners commissioned by SafeSite Facilities and carried out by Censuswide.

When asked how often security costs were preventing them from delivering the level of protection they would prefer, the results from owners were:

• Always: 28%
• Often: 47%
• Sometimes: 23%
• Rarely: 2%
• Never: 0%

This means 75% believe security costs always or often prevent them implementing their preferred protection measures and 98% have been impacted in total.

The problem is a significant one in terms of the number of properties impacted.

There are 2.1 rateable non-domestic properties in England and Wales according to government figures in May 2026, with 512,000 of those retail, 428,270 offices, 566,240 industrial and 631,250 'other'.

When you consider that Knight Frank reports a national vacancy rate for retail property of 13.5%, then the potential number of empty and vacant properties is almost 70,000 in that sector alone. It could be nearer 300,000 when other commercial properties are included.

That’s significant because commercial property owners polled by SafeSite expect things to get worse.

When asked whether they expected the risks associated with vacant commercial property to increase or decrease over the next two years, 83% said it would rise.

The full breakdown was:

• Increase significantly: 36.6%
• Increase somewhat: 46.9%
• Stay about the same: 13.7%
• Decrease somewhat: 2.3%
• Decrease significantly: 0.6%

Paul Goossens, Operations Director at SafeSite Facilities, said: “These statistics are worrying because empty properties that are left without adequate security are prone to multiple risks. These range from trespass to vandalism, burglary or theft, squatting, arson and fly tipping.”

Goossens continued: “There can also be health and safety risks, including children gaining access to sites which may have a range of dangers they are unaware of. But having adequate security measures in place for empty commercial property remains crucial.”

Goossens highlighted: “With risks and costs rising at the same time, it is clearly a complex picture. Vacant properties by their nature are not generating revenue so every expenditure has to be justified.”

Goossens added: “But there is hope for commercial property owners and landlords with new technology emerging all the time. AI-enabled CCTV, for instance, can reduce reliance on human guarding on some sites by providing intelligent filtering of threats and an ability to alert security guards when human intervention is required.”

Goossens concluded: “If costs are becoming prohibitive, commercial property owners need to be more strategic in the way they spend their security budget and seek professional advice on how to reduce costs.”

Picture: A graphic depicting response rate to the survey question on security costs preventing correct level of protection.

Article written by Dave Mapps | Published 13 October 2026

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