Relentless rent increases are being blamed for a growing number of empty shops in Adelaide and have left at least one district vulnerable to anti-social behaviour, a city councillor says.

In a bid to renew pressure on landlords sitting on empty shops, City of Adelaide councillor Anne Moran wants higher rates to force landlords to reduce rent and fill their premises.

She said rent increases by landlords were "ruining the city", making it impossible for business owners to survive.

"Businesses can't always turn up their trade to match their increase in rent," Ms Moran said.

"But the landlords sit on the same bloody rent increases they always make and make no adjustments, so these properties become vacant and sit empty for decades.

"It seems some of them are just doing a land banking exercise with little concern for the businesses they're leasing out to."

There are nearly 220,000 square metres of vacant office space in Adelaide's CBD — that's more than 10 Adelaide Oval playing surfaces.

Streets such as O'Connell Street in North Adelaide and the southern end of Hutt Street in the city's south-east are among those where vacancy numbers are obvious.

Ms Moran said she wanted the council to be able to impose "punitive rates" that would "force something to happen".

"If your shop's empty at the moment you get less rates because you're not using any services," she said.

"I think we do the reverse, so that we rate empty premises at top dollar.

"They won't like it, but there's no excuse for having an empty shop. It's only empty because your rent's too high."

Higher rates a 'draconian' approach

Property Council of SA executive director Daniel Gannon said Adelaide's empty office spaces were close to 50 per cent higher than its historic average.

Vacant offices in Adelaide have been taking a long time to fill. ( ABC News: Sowaibah Hanifie )

But he labelled Ms Moran's comments "draconian" and "narrow-minded" and said the biggest problem was land tax, which along with council rates, were "the highest per capita in the nation".

"Like any punitive tax on businesses, costs have to be passed on to consumers," Mr Gannon said.

"Land tax increases your rent, whether you're a residential tenant or commercial tenant, meaning that renting would be more affordable if this tax was more fair and more equitable.

"At the same time, South Australia has soft demand, which means we have fewer and smaller tenants to house in our commercial office spaces."

A spokesperson for the Local Government Association (LGA) of SA said there was no limit to what a council could increase its rates by each year under the LGA Act.

He said those rates were determined through "conversation with the community", but could not be declared until a council's annual business plan and budget was adopted.

The spokesperson added, however, that while a council could "charge differential rates based on vacant or non-vacant land" — to encourage development — this "did not extend to empty property".

A Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure spokesperson said local councils made their own decisions about the rates applied to property owners.

The LGA Act stipulated that rates were generally based on the value of land, and advised against strategies that made "narrow or unreasonably restrictive criteria and should not require ratepayers to meet onerous application requirements".

"The council should, in making any decision, take into account the financial effects of the decision on future generations," the Act said.

Empty shops supporting anti-social behaviour

A plethora of empty shops on Hutt Street's south is being partially blamed for an increase in anti-social behaviour, including drug dealers who are accused of preying on vulnerable homeless people.

Local business owners say violence has spiked over the past six months — a period where multiple restaurants and cafes have closed.

It has left the south end of the street unoccupied and dark at night with more than 20 commercial premises for lease in what was once a busy and popular restaurant strip.

Homeless people take advantage of empty shop fronts along Hutt Street in Adelaide's south-east. ( Supplied )

Hutt Street Backpackers owner Gary Locke is one of several business owners in the region who recently spoke publicly about increased violence along the strip.

It ranged from fighting in the street, shoplifting, people being shouted, abused or spat at, vandalism, and personal attacks on local workers — himself included.

"Because of all the empty shops here at the moment, there's lot of little alcoves, lots of shops you can sit outside or around, or sit out back because it's all in darkness," Mr Locke said.

"With 50 per cent of the shops empty, it's a very dark place at night."

Ms Moran said that the more businesses were driven out, the more a district became a nest for bad behaviour.

She added that homeless people and the Hutt Street Centre, a support venue of about 60 years, were not being blamed for the problems on the street, although she did believe it had possibly "outgrown its location".

A strip of restaurants in Hutt Street's south once lit up the area but have now closed. ( Supplied )

"It's always worked quite well, because it's run extremely well, and the residents down there were quite community spirited," she said.

"But this is something else."

Mr Locke said media attention had recently resulted in an increased police presence on the street, as well as staff from the Hutt Street Centre turning their attention to activities happening outside opening hours — all of which had improved the situation.

"We all know that the Hutt Street Centre does a great job," he said.

"We'll be meeting with some of the landlords in the area soon to discuss some of the rents and some of the options and ideas."