The national ‘shop’ vacancy rate is said to be 14%. And has been stuck around that number for some time.
Can we get it into single figures…?
Single figures. Does that seem wildly optimistic…?
I ask the question as #placemaking colleagues are starting to post on what the new government’s approach on #highstreet might look like when it emerges in the form of policy and regulation changes.
So it seemed worth having one last try at suggesting this…
“Ask (and resource) every local authority to report on vacancy numbers twice a year, and work with agents, landlords, businesses, community, cultural organisations, chamber and BID where there is one to overcome barriers to let…”
In other words encourage every place where empty units is an issue to set up a tackling vacancy-focused ‘place partnership’.
A number of places we’re working with through #TheVacantShopsAcademy are developing the approach and starting to see the impact it can have.
We’re just back from Aberdeen. A place we think of as a beacon for this working together approach to tackling vacancy. Different organisations there, using slightly varying methodologies, are tracking vacancy rates. And the impact on what was a 25% headline rate on Union Street is significant. Closing on halved on one count. Halved…!
Everyone you talk to there will emphasise that it’s still challenging and they’ve much to do yet, a work in progress but…
…if that’s possible in two years, and a number of other locations we’re working with are seeing reductions too, why can we not aim for a single figures national average.
The answer currently, to be blunt, is that not all towns and city centres are on the same page. Some are still with “it’s just an agents-landlords thing”, leaving vacancy to them and missing the crucial role fellow stakeholders bring. Others are trying the master planning route first, or relying on multi-million pound ‘big ticket item’ spending on local buildings or projects to fix the whole place (will it…?).
Thing is. We know how to do this. Places are proving it. I believe we can get that 14% down. But only if…
