Market researcher Experian said there had been a pick up in new retail lettings recently, albeit from a very low base and focussed on prime trading locations.

"We are starting to see green roots rather than shoots of recovery in the retail and property sectors as many leading retailers have now taken the necessary measures to ride out the worst of recession," said Jonathan de Mello, Experian's director of retail property consultancy.

"Many are now planning for growth at the end of next year and are looking to take advantage of the ready availability of vacant stores."

The report said budget fashion chains Peacocks and New Look, discounters 99p Stores and Poundland and supermarket groups Tesco, Iceland and Waitrose were among the firms to sign up for new stores -- some of them previously owned by collapsed toys-to-DVDs chain Woolworths -- in recent weeks.

Around three-quarters of the 27 Simply Food stores being vacated by Marks & Spencer were also under offer, the report said.

"Demand for prime stock in strong trading locations has improved significantly over the past 4-6 weeks, driven by the belief that we are at, or near, the bottom of the market," said James Gulliford, senior director at property services firm CBRE.

Demonstrating renewed investor interest in retail property assets, Europa Capital LLP and joint venture partner SCOOP AM said Tuesday they had bought the Fremlin Walk shopping mall in Maidstone, southern England from Land Securities for 69 million pounds.

Fremlin Walk comprises 350,000 square feet of space and is anchored by department store House of Fraser. The agreed purchase price reflects a net income yield of about 8.75 percent.

Experian stressed, however, the pick up in retail property demand is focussed in prime trading areas, and that the percentage of vacant stores in Britain is still set to rise to around 15 percent by the end of this year, up from 11.5 percent now and 7 percent in 2008.

(Reporting by Mark Potter; editing by Simon Jessop)