There are now 11,000 charity shops across the UK, the growth of which has been attributed to government subsidies of up to an 80 per cent discount on business rates, as reported by The Times.

Retail analysts now warn that that charity shops are crowding out the independent shops, cafes and leisure premises that are needed to ‘revive’ British high streets after the worst Christmas in a decade.

There is a huge incentive for landlords to rent empty properties to charity shops as they now have to pay full business rates if a shop is empty for longer than three months. As a result charities are often permitted short leases to rent spaces at low rents.

There have been calls for councils to use discretion to lower business rates for independent shops to rejuvenate high streets.

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→ The Times - Taxpayer’s charity shop subsidy blamed for high street decline