Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to (a) review and (b) strengthen the provisions of the Localism Act 2011 relating to the community right to bid; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on (i) long-term vacant commercial properties and (ii) support for communities seeking to preserve assets of community value.

As part of the English Devolution Bill, the government has committed to legislate for a strong new ‘right to buy’ for valued community assets, replacing the current ‘right to bid’ that was introduced in the Localism Act 2011. This will give real power to local people to preserve a wide range of assets that are important to them and help to end the blight of empty properties on our high street. We are currently finalising the policy and will announce more details, including its impact, in due course.