New powers will come into effect this summer to help communities take back control of their high streets and revive empty shops.
The plans can enable hospitality to drive change in our high streets, says UKHospitality, but CAMRA says much of what the government has announced is “a disappointing step backwards for high street pubs”.
The scheme will give local authorities the ability to instigate an auction on properties that have remained vacant, with the ambition to remove empty sites and encourage new business investment in high streets.
“The proposals to allow vacant properties to be brought into use via auction will create opportunities for hospitality businesses to move into high streets, generating local investment and creating places where people want to live,” said Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality.
“I’m pleased that protections for pub sites have been addressed, and this will help protect the cultural and historic role pubs play in our society.”
However, she added: “For businesses to capitalise on the investment potential created by these plans, we need to see the cost burden for hospitality addressed.
“Financial headroom is essential for businesses to take advantage of these opportunities, alongside urgent improvements to the planning system.”
CAMRA’s pub and club campaigns director, Gary Timmins, said: “Campaigning to see vacant pubs brought back into use is one of CAMRA’s core objectives and the proposals for high street rental auctions had the potential to be a really positive move, particularly the proposal’s focus on community uses. We know that pubs can increase and expand footfall on the high street, and we hoped government understood this too.
“However, it was vital that pubs kept their planning protection under the scheme. CAMRA called on government to ensure that pubs that became part of the high street rental auction scheme weren’t gutted of their fittings ahead of bids for the premises, and this recommendation hasn’t been taken forward, leaving developers a clear path to permanently converting these venues.
“The recent Crooked House scandal has exposed just how far some are willing to go for a shot at redeveloping pubs, and that current planning protections for pubs simply aren’t fit for purpose. High street rental auctions could have been a chance for government to take a fresh approach and affirm their support for pubs. Instead, their response to this consultation is looking like yet another missed opportunity.
“I am pleased to see provision for local authorities to set the uses for which bids will be permitted, and that pubs are specifically given as a case where this would be appropriate. I urge the trailblazer authorities that will trial high street rental auctions to make use of this provision, to protect high street pubs from unscrupulous redevelopment.”
