High Street Rental Auctions

Jo White Excerpts

Wednesday 26th February 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jo White (Bassetlaw) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth West (Jessica Toale) for securing this welcome debate. Our high streets were once the beating heart of our communities, but the years of decline have hit towns such as Worksop, Harworth and Retford in my constituency hard. The immense sadness and frustration that I feel as I walk through my towns is shared by many of my constituents. In my view, the death knell started with the shift to out-of-town shopping centres in the ’80s and ’90s, but since then, the ease and habit of online shopping has caused the closing down and boarding up of shops on a massive scale. The pandemic put that on steroids, and for many, the habit of using the town centres to shop in is now long forgotten.

The value of community and pride in where we live is recognised and valued by everyone, and the commitment to revitalising our town centres rides above the politics in this place and elsewhere. I therefore welcome the new powers for local authorities to require landlords to rent out persistently vacant commercial properties to new tenants, such as local businesses or community groups.

[Connor Naismith (Crewe and Nantwich) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is right to point out that these powers exist to tackle persistently vacant shop units, but does she share my concern about the scandalous practices undertaken by some landlords, including in my constituency? Those landlords register empty shop units as occupied in an effort to avoid paying business rates, thereby placing them outside the scope of this policy, because in policy terms they are registered as occupied. That, in turn, leaves shop units that are vital to our civic pride to rack and ruin. Will she join me in asking the Minister to look at those practices with a view to tackling them?

[Jo White]

I thank my hon. Friend so much for his intervention. Like him, I can identify properties on my high streets that do exactly that—they have furniture and equipment inside, but never open their doors and are clearly empty—in order to avoid paying business rates. That definitely needs to be tackled, and I hope that the Minister has heard his concerns.

I welcome the fact that my local authority, Bassetlaw district council, has been proactive about this challenge and has applied to be an early adopter of the scheme. The town centres of Harworth, Worksop and Retford would all be beneficiaries of that proposal as defined designated areas for this intervention. The local authority is a trailblazer for the programme, but as with all new projects and proposals—this is similar to the issues that my hon. Friends raised regarding Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council and Mansfield district council—they hit up against issues that could be ironed out to make the roll-out easier and smoother for other towns that are biting at the bit to begin this process.

The past 14 years have left local authorities significantly cash-strapped, and the project needs to include funding to cover the cost of officer time to set up and administer this relatively complex scheme. That will inevitably put a strain on our existing resources, compromising the delivery of other projects, and may stop other councils coming forward.

The designation of areas is not necessarily straightforward. My local authority has had to manage constitutional matters to institute the designated areas, which has caused delays in getting the project under way. There is no funding for the essential survey costs that must be undertaken before going to auction. The guidance states that those costs can be passed on to the end occupier should there be a successful bidder, and that this should be made clear in the auction marketing materials. There is a risk, however, as passing on the costs is likely to dampen demand.

The application guidance states that refurbishment funding has been set between £40,000 and £79,000, based on the property footprint, but it is anticipated that it will be approximately £50,000 per property, which is insufficient for some properties and end users. In Worksop, for example, we have a shortage of food and drink establishments. The £40,000 to £79,000 can be used only for refurbishment, and not for a fit-out. The high cost of fitting out a catering venue will be a potential deterrent to business investment.

Although the council is exploring the use of UK shared prosperity funding to enable fit-out works to take place, those funds end in March 2026, so that is not a sustainable solution. The council remains very keen to be a flagbearer for this significant proposal, which has the potential to transform our town centres, but it is also keen to be part of the problem-solving process as the roll-out begins. Will the Minister meet me and my local authority to discuss these matters further?