Government action to tackle the scourge of boarded up shops

Crawley Borough Council is to receive more support in tackling the scourge of boarded up shops with a major expansion of powers to bring more long-term vacant properties into use.

Communities Secretary Steve Reed has announced a £10 million expansion to High Streets Rental Auctions (HSRA) to ensure more councils across England can take on the eyesores plaguing Britain’s streets.

Local authorities in England already have the power to auction off leases for commercial properties which have stood empty for a total of a year within a two year period, allowing empty properties to be filled by new tenants in a boost for local businesses and the high street.

This expansion builds on the Pride in Place programme which is backing local people to drive regeneration, with £20 million worth of investment for Bewbush and Ifield West.

The funding will bring hundreds more properties back into use, directly supporting refurbishment of the worst affected units and galvanising more councils to start using the powers to revitalise their high streets.

Peter Lamb, Labour MP for Crawley said:

“Town centres are the heart of local communities. With the switch to online retail, councils are having to work hard with local businesses and property owners to keep town centres alive and new powers, such as High Street Rental Auctions, are an important part in delivering the regeneration we all want to see.”

Communities Secretary, Steve Reed said:

“Our high streets are ecosystems – and vacant shops are bad for business.”

“Through high streets rental auctions, we are reducing vacancies by helping councils to force landlords to rent out empty shops – stamping out boarded-up shops and getting businesses back in.”

“Rental auctions throws open the doors for new tenants to snap up high street space – providing businesses and communities with access to tenancies at affordable rates.”

“In the first year of enforcement, this helped bring down vacancy rates in one of our early adopter areas – Harworth & Bircotes – from 11% to 3%. Just imagine if we could replicate that on every high street.”

“Today I can announce an expansion of the programme with an additional £10m over the next two years, giving councils access to more refurbishment grants to wipe out high street eyesores.”

“With our support, I want all councils to use these powers and tackle vacancies.”

“It’s all part of a wider plan to support local businesses to drive change in their area.”