Independent shops are disappearing from Dutch high streets, which are becoming increasingly dominated by big national and international chains, news agency ANP reports on Wednesday.

In Utrecht and Leeuwarden, for example, just 1% of A1 locations are occupied by independent retailers, the report for property company Corio shows.
The research predicts that without action, there will be no small retailers left in prime locations in Dutch high streets by 2022.
In the Netherlands, some 65% of retail premises are occupied by independent traders. In Belgium and France the figures are 82% and 86% respectively.
One reason for the dominance of national chains may be a change to tenancy agreements in the 1960s, ANP reports. Since then, retailers have been able to sell their leases to another retailer, without the owner’s intervention. This means developers cannot steer the type of shops on offer, Corio Nederland CEO John van Haaren told ANP.