“Vacant shops reborn under plan to breathe life into high streets”.
This was the headline in the Daily Mail and after so many false dawns, I welcome what now seems to be a serious move by government to breathe new life into our towns.
At long last, landlords are going to be forced to let out retail units that have been vacant for longer than six months.
The Government’s new plans—due to be announced in the Queen’s Speech next month-will allow community groups and small businesses to take over boarded up shops.
According to the British Retail Consortium’s latest figures, one in seven shops are sitting empty.
Shocking and it doesn’t seem to get better.
It has not been helped, of course, by two years of Covid, which has had a devastating effect on retailer profits—especially for those small, independent shops we prize so much in our Gloucestershire towns.
This move from Government is part of a new Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.
It will put the onus on councils to be able to force landlords to rent out commercial property on high streets through what is called a compulsory Rental Auction.
Surely for these landlords it is better to get some revenue from empty shops rather than nothing at all?
I like the plan because it is just not just about getting rid of boarded up shops that look an eyesore.
It is an opportunity for councils to really show their economic enthusiasm for new businesses-especially start-ups by young people- and developing more community shops.
Just look what is happening to the former Debenhams building in Gloucester.
The University of Gloucestershire had the foresight to buy it and are now turning it into a student campus.
And empty retail units may not necessarily need to be shops any more.
I hope, that with the Government promising to loosen planning laws, we might get more residential homes on our high streets.
That will mean more people-especially young people-coursing through the streets. That will bring more life into some of our towns.
So, I welcome this new Levelling Up move. It’s brave and it’s necessary to ensure we can still call ourselves a nation of shopkeepers.
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