‘Blight’ of empty high street shops to be tackled with mandatory letting in council pilot
A new pilot project could force businesses in Scarborough to let out their vacant properties to improve economic performance and the appearance of high streets.
The “blight of empty and increasingly derelict properties” on high streets could be tackled with new powers that allow local authorities to require landlords to rent out “persistently vacant commercial properties to new tenants such as local businesses or community groups”.
If the pilot project in Scarborough is approved at a meeting next week (March 17), preparatory work will start immediately, and the high street rental auction process could start as early as May.
Scarborough has the highest town centre vacancy rate in the county at 18.6 per cent, followed by Malton at 17.1 per cent, while Whitby has a vacancy rate of just 7.6 per cent, according to a council report.
The council said its previous strategies, including offering fully funded vinyl wraps for vacant properties, had failed.
Properties that have been vacant for more than a year in the past two years would be eligible if they are deemed suitable for high street use, such as retail, offices, public services, hospitality, entertainment, or light industry.
The council said the properties would also need to be considered beneficial to the local economy, society, or environment if occupied.
A report prepared for an upcoming meeting of North Yorkshire Council’s executive committee states: “Increasingly, the condition of the town centre of Scarborough, in particular Huntriss Row, where there is a concentration of vacant premises, is being raised with the council.
“Given the lack of impact of earlier initiatives, the limits of existing powers and the local imperative to tackle the issue, it is proposed the council pilots the use of the new high street rental auction (HSRA) powers to compel landlords to improve the vacant premises and secure new tenants.”
The HSRA process takes around 22 to 24 weeks to complete.
However, the powers have been designed to stimulate engagement with landlords to find solutions to vacant properties, and auctions are seen as “a measure of last resort”.
“Where landlords and local authorities are both constructive and pragmatic, alternative options for bringing the premises back into use may be identified, avoiding the need for a high street rental auction to take place.”
In a report presented to council bosses last month, officers said that “by removing the Brunswick Centre from the calculations, [the rate for] Scarborough, whilst still high, would fall from 18.6 per cent to 15.8 per cent vacant”.
Councils are eligible to apply for £5,223 per HSRA, and NYC said it was seeking fundingfrom the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government.
The report to the executive states that “in the absence of the grant, all costs for property repair, to a minimum lettable standard, are to be covered by the landlord”.