Council poised to be first to use new powers on empty shops

Rugby Borough Council's cabinet has agreed to recommend that full council adopt a new policy enabling the authority to use recently introduced powers to auction off leases to empty high street shops.

Details: 18.Sep.2025

At a cabinet meeting last week, councillors welcomed the move as a response to residents' concerns about empty premises in the town centre.

The so-called High Street Rental Auction (HSRA) powers, introduced in the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act 2023, allow local authorities to require landlords to rent out persistently vacant commercial properties to new tenants such as local businesses or community groups.

HSRAs are a permissive power for local authorities to auction rental rights of commercial, high street premises that have been vacant for longer than 12 months in a 24-month period.

The authority can grant a tenancy of up to five years under the powers.

Council leader Michael Moran told the cabinet that he believed Rugby would become the first council to employ the power, which he described as a "legislative hammer to attack effectively empty properties and redundant shops".

Cllr Isabelle McKenzie meanwhile said: "I think it's something you hear so often from residents, which is they're so fed up of empty shops in the town centre.

"So I'm really relieved that we're now going to have some teeth to actually fight back and actually force buildings back into use and stop them being derelict and left empty over long periods of time."

Cabinet members voted to recommend the policy to full council for approval.

The report to cabinet noted that the Government offers a grant of up to £5,000 to help cover the legal, surveying and advertising costs for each auction.

There is also an additional scheme of £1.5 million to provide grants of up to £75,000 on a first-come, first-served basis to complete necessary renovations and works to bring long-term vacant shops back into use.

The report also said that Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) officers told the council that it had made significant progress "such that we are ahead of other councils and are in a strong position with regards access to the improvement grants".

Adam Carey