Eli5: Why are so many office blocks and retail shops in UK that are ” to let” remain empty for months, rather than to reduce rent ? Why do landlords do this?

Question

Eli5: Why are so many office blocks and retail shops in UK that are ” to let” remain empty for months, rather than to reduce rent ? Why do landlords do this?

In: 1189

Answer 1

The same reason why over 99.99% of the world’s diamonds are stored in lockers and have never been sold after getting mined. Same reason why OPEC leaves most of their oil in the ground even though they have excess capacity to extract it.

Manufactured scarcity.