Sarah Godfrey, associate at Bircham Dyson Bell LLP is warning local authorities in smaller UK towns not to rely on large scale retail shopping centre developments for regeneration.
The warning comes in the wake of recent research by commercial real estate group Colliers International which suggested that only four per cent of the current UK shopping centre pipeline is classed as 'under construction'.
"It's safe to say that unless you are a local authority for a major conurbation, large scale shopping centres are unlikely to be attracted to invest at present, meaning that smaller towns and cities around the UK could miss out on a much needed boost to their local economy," said Sarah Godfrey.
"Developers' enthusiasm for previously feted projects has waned in the current economy and regional centres are likely to find that for the next few years at least, they're unlikely to attract such development opportunities.
"A recent example of this is in Preston, Lancashire where the Tithebarn regeneration scheme has been shelved.
"Leeds however is due to benefit from the new Trinity Leeds retail development that is due to open in spring 2013 - moving the city of Leeds' ranking in the UK's retail hierarchy from 7th to 4th.
"Whilst there has been a spate of shopping centre developments in larger cities in recent years; Grosvenor's Liverpool One, Westfield's White City and Stratford Developments and Bristol Alliance's Cabot Circus in Bristol, things are definitely slowing down - and local authorities in the regions will find regeneration very tough as a result."
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