Only one in three Britons describe their local high street as being in a good state
Key takeaways
- 78% of Britons say having a high street in their area is at least fairly important to them
- Britons tend to believe high street shops have better customer service and are more convenient than other types of shops, but tend to see them as having a worse range of products and being uncompetitive on price
- Just 35% of those with a local high street would say it is in a good state
- Reform UK voters are the most likely to feel the high street in their local area is in a bad state
- Londoners are the most frequent users of a high street
The state of Britain’s high streets has been a subject of long-running concern, from worry about bank branch closures creating ‘banking deserts’ to fears about them being taken over by fronts for money laundering and other crimes.
While politicians are often quick to describe them as the “beating heart” of communities, with the government last month announcing a £150m fund to regenerate ailing high streets, how do Britons currently see their high streets?
Just 35% of Britons who have a high street in their local area believe that it is in a good state, relative to 43% who feel their local high street is in a bad way. A further 21% feel their high street is neither in a good state nor a bad state.
Reform UK voters are particularly likely to feel their local high street is in a bad way, with 56% saying so, the highest level of any social group.
By contrast, Londoners are more likely to see their high street as being in a good state than those in other English regions, with 42% saying so compared to 31-32% elsewhere.
They are also the most likely group to use a high street, with nearly half of Londoners (45%) popping down the high street at least once a week, compared to 26-28% in other regions of England.
Overall, 28% of Britons use a local high street at least once a week, widening to 53% who do so at least once a month.
Do Britons see a high street as important?
Regardless of their state, the public do see a high street as important, with 78% of Britons saying it’s at least fairly important to them to have a high street in their local area, including 33% who say it’s very important.
While the proportion seeing high streets as important is fairly stable across demographic groups, older Britons are more likely to see them as very important, with 38% of over 65s saying so, compared to 26% of 18-24 year olds.
Even among those who shop on their high street less than once a month, 21% say it is very important to them that they have a high street in their local area. This rises to 35% of those who pop to their high street at least once a month but less than once a week, and 54% of those who shop on their high street at least once a week.
How do Britons think high street shops compare to other types of shop?
The ‘decline’ of the high street has often been pinned on undercutting by the internet, as well as supermarkets offering a wider range of products at more competitive prices.
These are indeed the areas that the public most negatively evaluate high street shops, with 49% of Britons who have a local high street believing they offer a worse range of products and 41% feeling they offer worse prices than other shops. This compares to just 10-14% believing the high street is better than alternatives on these fronts.
This is likely compounded by a perception that the products that are on offer are no better quality than those on sale elsewhere, with just 23% believing high street shops offer higher quality wares than other shops, relative to 58% who do not notice a difference in quality.
Nonetheless, those with a high street do tend to believe that such shops offer better customer service (by 46% to 7%), are more convenient (44% to 21%) and provide a more enjoyable shopping experience (38% to 11%) than other types of shop.
Those who regularly shop on the high street tend to be more positive about customer service, convenience, product quality and shopping experience.
For instance, while those who use the high street at least once a week believe they offer a more enjoyable shopping experience than other shops by a margin of 52% to 11%, those who use high street shops less than once a month are divided on the question 27% to 25%.
However, even the most regular high street users tend to feel that high street shops offer higher prices (by 40% to 13%) and a worse range of products (45% to 17%) than other types of shop.
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Photo: Getty
