With the Chancellor expected to deliver a Budget centred on fiscal tightening and significant tax rises, new visitor data from Place Informatics reveals a deepening decline across UK high streets, raising serious concerns that the Budget could intensify an already fragile situation for town centres.

Place Informatics’ latest figures show a marked worsening of the year-on-year decline in September, following a sustained drop throughout the summer months. The UK as a whole saw footfall drop by -2.58%, with England down -2.84%, Wales experiencing the sharpest decline at -3.60%, Scotland down -3.59%, and Northern Ireland decreasing by -1.57%, highlighting the widespread and deepening pressures facing high streets throughout the UK.

The data highlights that the downturn is not isolated but widespread and worsening just as the government prepares to tighten the fiscal screws. With last year’s Budget NIC increase still impacting businesses, high streets face higher operational costs while consumers face reduced disposable income, creating a dual squeeze on retail and hospitality.

The expected direction of the Budget next week is to raise taxes to repair public finances, which risks dampening consumer spending even further. Coupled with food inflation running much higher than headline inflation, families are being forced to direct more of their budgets towards essentials, leaving less available for retail, leisure, and hospitality. This could severely undermine the Christmas trading period, which many high street businesses rely upon for survival.

For town centres already experiencing falling footfall and reduced dwell times, any further weakening in consumer confidence could deepen the erosion of local economies, accelerate vacancies, and strain the financial resilience of retailers already managing increased wage and energy costs.

These figures should serve as a warning to policymakers. High streets are already under intense pressure, and the anticipated Budget focused on fiscal tightening and tax rises could push many town centres into even steeper decline. Our data shows visitor numbers falling across the UK, and that decline appears to be accelerating. Without targeted, evidence-based support, we risk losing more high street businesses at the very moment communities need them most.

As the economic outlook tightens, understanding exactly how people are using town centres is essential. High street recovery will depend on targeted interventions, and those decisions must be backed by reliable data on visitor patterns, dwell times, and consumer behaviour.

To access the full Town Centre Visitor Report, click here.