In the UK this isn’t even limited to office space. Business rates on any kind of retail space are so absurdly high that it is a huge barrier to entry for settin

In the UK this isn’t even limited to office space. Business rates on any kind of retail space are so absurdly high that it is a huge barrier to entry for setting up shop. They haven’t adapted to the continuing death of the high street at all, so you have loads of property sitting empty because the rates to lease it, on top of the rent, are too much. In fact, a loophole was to allow a business shop to set up rent-free for a few months, and then close up just before they were due to cover tax and business rates, allowing the landlord to keep the property vacant for a while longer. This is how places like Oxford Street in London became inundated with ‘American Candy’ Stores.