New high street rental auctions regime to come into effect this summer, Government says

Local authorities will from this summer gain a power to require landlords to rent out persistently vacant shops and other commercial properties as part of attempts to reinvigorate high streets, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has confirmed.

Councils will be able to act when a high street shop has been empty for more than a year by auctioning a rental lease of up to five years with no reserve price.

Landlords will have the choice over which bid to accept and guidance will encourage local authorities to use the policy only where landlords are not taking sufficient steps to secure a letting.

There will be a ‘trailblazer’ programme with as yet unnamed councils and a £2m fund to help all authorities to start the programme.

Minister for Levelling Up Jacob Young said: “A lively high street brings an irreplaceable community spirit – one that is unique to its own area – along with new jobs and opportunities for local people.

“These new powers will enable local communities to take back control, backed by over £15 billion of levelling up funding which is transforming towns and left-behind communities across the UK.”

The DLUHC said vacancies had become an increasing issue on many high streets following the pandemic and its acceleration of the use of online retail.

It said high numbers of vacancies “ruin the look and feel of an area” as boarded-up empty shops often become targets for vandalism, graffiti and anti-social behaviour, which can lead to a vicious circle of decline and entrenched economic underperformance.

Figures from the Local Data Company found that nationally, in the first quarter of 2023, one in seven high-street shops were closed, while data firm Whythawk suggested that more than 80% of these properties had been empty for more than two years.

There will also be a fund to give 10 areas £500,000 each to improve the environment of their high streets by planting new trees, creating green walls and pocket parks and by improving existing nearby parks.

This has been awarded to streets nominated by councils in Blackpool, Oldham, Hyndburn, Tameside, Blackburn with Darwen, Stoke-on-Trent, North Lincolnshire, Hull, North East Lincolnshire and Tendring.

The Government’s response to its consultation can be viewed here.

Mark Smulian