The Vacant Shops Academy

Good news. I’ve been asked to help with locations for the ‘improving high streets’ part of the Prime Minister’s summer tour.

Actually, to be honest, I haven’t, but it’s been really interesting thinking about where I’d suggest and why.

The imaginary email limited me to picking three places that’d be insightful in terms of tackling high street vacancy.

So where would you choose. Do let me know…

There are a number of places we’ve worked with on reducing empty shops totals and improving the mix of uses who’ve seen their headline vacancy rate drop from teens into single figures, and others on that journey. All have stories to share and elements of their approach that are useful learning for places who’ve not yet got underway on this issue.

But my tour map would have pins for the PM in Aberdeen, Crewe and Tredegar.

Here’s why…

Focusing on its historic and important Union Street, the Team Aberdeen approach I still see as a tackling highstreet vacancy beacon, especially because you can point to a crucial piece each of the different players has brought to the table. And also because they’ve gone on to take the same working together ethos with their focus on upper floors, something which is already being taken up by other places.

Crewe and Tredegar I’d suggest because both looked like needing pre-steps before the tackling vacancy work could totally focus on particular units…

For Crewe it’s been a series of infrastructure projects, new additions and conversion work on its large, empty ex-retail stores plus a focus on arts & crafts, creative, culture, community as early options to take on space – including the brilliant Platform by CreweCreates and the upcoming Her-Place Women’s Centre.

In Tredegar a major ‘look’ initiative has been the initial focus, including the stunning wall art series we’ve reported here as it’s developed, plus what should be a transformative change into local ownership for the town’s shopping centre, which is now starting to see improvement works get underway.

To be clear, all 3 have their challenges still and there’s much to do but that’s part of what makes them really valuable case studies.

It’d be great to walk and talk the PM and his team through while also taking the opportunity to spotlight some of the projects and initiatives we’re seeing in other places that could be valuable models and case studies too.

So back to the question. Which places are you putting on the PM’s itinerary…?

– one with a landlord, the other an agent – but a huge amount learned about the town centre in focus…

…but maybe more importantly, looking at the bigger national picture, another illustration of how having a working together, ‘place partnership’ approach to this issue can get the job done – empty units let, mix of uses improved – quicker, better and more sustainably.

We need more of these conversations. More working together.

If we get that we’ll see more places taking chunks out of their headline highstreet vacancy percentage and the national rate dropping into single figures where it belongs.

Why…?

The insights shared about the buildings, their histories, status, options and opportunities make such a difference to thinking about how best to get them let again…

…so much more than you can get from street-level observation and even via lettings details (if any are available given the typically big number of visibly vacant units that don’t have an agent instructed).

You can also get a wealth of information about:

+ the types of business there’s demand for space from;

+ potential barriers that hold up landlord-tenant agreements (even things that maybe don’t look obvious from the outside like VAT or bank loans);

+ the scope (or not) for ‘alternative’ / additional use types like residential, office, creative, health etc.

All these help illustrate why the ‘place partnership’ approach with agents, landlords, businesses, community, cultural organisations, council(s), chamber, BID where there is one and others added locally works. Bringing to the table more expertise, experience, connections, resources, funding and maybe powers than one or two partners working alone.

If your place needs to get on the tackling vacancy case, especially if you’re considering High Street Rental Auctions to help, we’d love to talk…

…and if your an agent or landlord it’d be great to get your take on things as they stand.

We’ve got to get past the idea that landlords of empty highstreet units are absentee or greedy or both…

…at least we do if we’re going to make the rapid progress we can on reducing vacancy rates in our town and city centres and get the long-stuck national rate into single figures where it belongs.

Talk to owners of empty town and city centre properties as we do regularly in our tackling highstreet vacancy work and you find a different story.

Some are trying with agents to find a tenant but cannot because the circumstances of the town as a whole don’t help;

They may lack the resources to get the unit into the size, layout or condition it needs be to let in today’s market;

Any deal they do might be impacted by an agreement with a bank which says no at a certain rent level;

They may have a tenant that’s left but is still paying rent on an unexpired lease;

The landlord might have had bad experiences with tenants in the past, cannot find one that works with office or resi occupiers on upper floors, and so on…

We’ve included a fuller list in the ‘Tackling High Street Vacancy’ guide in our series, but the above give you a sense of the challenge.

It’s looking like early adopter councils of the government’s High Street Rental Auctions power are finding some of the same things: engaging with landlords and seeing empty units coming back into play without actually needing to get to the auction stage at all.

It’s important to say that we do find landlords who are less proactive than they might be, some of them making use of – for example – flaws in the business rates regulations. But having done a consultation on evasion and avoidance not long back, the government ought to be able to fix those before long.

For the rest we still believe that working together, our ‘place partnership’ approach is the best, quickest, most sustainable way to do this.

If we base policy, projects and regulation only on the absentee / greedy perspective (or delinquent as one writer phrased it this week), we’ll miss opportunities to move forward.

I know there are councillors, campaign groups, even close placemaking colleagues who see things differently, favouring another set of sticks over my alternative.

Where do you stand…?

Really interesting week setting out and talking through our tackling highstreet vacancy approach with two of the locations we’re supporting.

Two very different places in varying locations with a different scale of headline vacancy rate challenge but still we’re confident that the key elements of ‘audit, engage, encourage, promote’ will deliver for both.

Getting vacant units, some of them (in both places) large, long-empty and in less than best condition back into play, and improving the mix of uses…

For both town centres we’ve tabled these as important ‘next steps’:

+ setting up a positive, proactive tackling vacancy-focused ‘place partnership’ to work together on the issue;

+ “get the keys” and take a mixed public-private sector team into priority empty units to work out what new occupiers would fit there, what the barriers are, how they’re overcome and which of the partners needs step up to make that happen;

+ engage residents and existing businesses in conversation about what’s missing and what they’d like to see take on those units then go try recruit, together from that targets list;

+ explore the potential for ‘alternative’ / additional use types to move in: arts & crafts, creative, culture, community, history & heritage, leisure, education, health and health & wellbeing;

+ consider a town-wide, ‘place’-led, pop-up shop project.

There’s more, but those are all fundamental to the approach.

Looking forward to working with the local teams to help deploy the elements they see as priorities as we have with other places on our now 46-strong list of locations.

Four and a half years of The Vacant Shops Academy and nine before that working on this with town centres has given us 💯 belief that the method works…

We’d love to take it to more places with vacancy in the mid / high teens or over 20%. If that’s your town centre, do drop us a message…!

This is why we’re trying to encourage every town or city centre with empty unit rates above the (too high anyway) national average, to get a tackling vacancy-focused ‘place partnership’ on the case.

The biggest is that we know it works because very different places a decade apart have deployed it and taken big chunks out of their vacancy rate. Others between have done too and more are on the journey.

But there are many other reasons…

Your residents and existing businesses don’t like lots of empties and they are an off-put for would-be new occupiers and investors;

The commercial property market as it operates on the high street has its own flaws and so may not be the whole answer to reducing vacancy…

There’s a long list of reasons why landlords might not be as proactive in searching for a letting;

Based on our data from the 46 locations we’re supporting on reducing empty unit numbers and improving the mix of uses, more than half of all visibly vacant units have no agent instructed;

There are limits to the financial incentives for commercial agents which in turn may limit the time they have to find new occupiers;

With the use class guidance as it is, even if the landlord / agent finds a new tenant it might not be one the ‘place’ gets enthused about and may not add to the mix;

Important a role as they have, retail, hospitality and services may not now fill all your empties so you’ll need explore ‘alternative’ / additional uses which can require connections, resources, powers & more that only a wider stakeholder group can offer;

From a policy perspective, getting empty units occupied is good for growth, creates jobs, reduces asb, boosts pride in place & more;

And our approach is the perfect companion if you’re considering deploying the new High Street Rental Auction powers.

We’re very much hoping that the upcoming government High Streets Strategy will:

“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 plus others identified locally, to help overcome barriers to getting empty units let…”

Until then we’d love to hear from more places who’d like to learn how our approach can help you halve your headline vacancy rate in 18 months. You may even do it quicker…

Okay so it’s probably a bit technical, and maybe not gonna grab any morning headlines, but in the run up to release of the promised government High Streets Strategy…

…I thought to revisit our tackling vacancy-focused ‘manifesto’: the policies and regulation additions / adjusts (see how snappy it is) designed to help all those working on this issue on the ground.

Drawing on learning since 2013 and across the now 46 locations we’re working with The Vacant Shops Academy, it was written just before the last general election and I’d say it’s held up pretty well.

One item has made it into the policy pipeline already, it’d be great to see more, especially the first which we totally believe would see town and city centres halve their headline vacancy rate in 18 months and take a chunk out of the long-stuck national rate, maybe even dropping it from the currently quoted 13.5-14% into single figures.

So here it is…

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 plus others identified locally, to help overcome barriers to getting empty units let…

Give them scope to override national use class guidance and permitted development rules in line with local priorities;

Create new powers to end business rates avoidance and evasion and allow flexibility to incentivise tackling vacancy eg around thresholds, ‘fit to occupy’, listed building charity (and CIC) and second unit reliefs;

Strengthen (and resource) regulations to enforce minimum ‘fit to occupy’ standards on all highstreet buildings;

Sweep away the additional letting requirements on councils when they are landlords so that local authorities are all beacons of good practice;

Require every vacant highstreet unit to be marketed with a registered agent and the place to have a publicly available empty & available units listing;

Change the process which keep units empty when the previous tenant went into administration or left with time to go on their lease;

Build funds to support community right to buy including the co-ordination and property skills to make it happen and be sustainable;

Develop a series of pop-up use projects leading to longer pilots based on successful examples for arts & crafts, culture, creative and community uses;

Mandate all NHS Trusts to work with their places to develop accessible first contact & diagnostic services in town & city centres;

Encourage and resource places to ‘audit’ and develop strategies to reduce un- and under-used space on upper floors of vacant and occupied units.

I know a number of property and placemaking colleagues disagree with one or more of these, so please do have a say…!

What would you add / amend…?

Really interesting updates this week if you’re following progress with the new High Streets Rental Auctions power.

We’d said since the very early consultation conversations that it would be a valuable tool in the tackling vacancy toolkit but, importantly, as part of a wider positive, proactive approach rather than as a standalone…

…and via feedback from colleagues in ‘early adopter’ councils and a number of those we’re working with on getting empty units back into play and improving the mix of uses in their towns, that’s how it’s looking so far.

As we get extra detail on how HSRA is encouraging more councils to believe they can have a real impact on cutting vacancy rates, helping start conversations with landlords, and beginning to move empty units on the journey to a letting, it’s clear that our ‘audit, engage’ process and ‘place partnership’ approach are perfect companions for the new power.

For places considering joining the growing group that’s on the case, we’d love to talk more…

It’d be great also to hear where your place stands on deploying HSRA now, and from agents and landlords who’ve been involved in discussions in town and city centres where it’s already happening…

We know how positive an effect a new health services ‘community diagnostic centre’ (CDC), college or university campus and an arts & crafts makers collective store can have on town and city centres…

…so how do we go about getting more…?

It’d be great to hear from place leaders and managers that have one or more of those in their location, and what the pluses are.

These are just some of what we call the ‘alternative’ or additional use types we’re suggesting that the local teams working on tackling highstreet vacancy explore as potential go-to options to take on empty units.

The full list is: arts & crafts, creative, culture, community, history & heritage, leisure, education, health and health & wellbeing. It’s been suggested a few times that we add ‘sustainability’ to create an easy category to include various types of business and organisation with this as their focus.

Encouragingly we’re seeing more and more examples, including some taking on bigger units like former department stores.

Grimsby is one we’ve seen to have a town centre CDC open, with Southend doing similar. Gloucester has its new University Campus in the former city centre Debenhams. And there are so many different examples of arts & crafts makers collectives we’ve written one of our guides & briefing notes series to draw them together.

Two things to add…

One is we’d argue, based on experience from the 46 locations we’re working with, that this option backs up the case for having a ‘place partnership’ on the case because identifying and then securing these use types can be more challenging than getting in retail, hospitality & services occupiers.

The other is a question. Can these uses – either with a large single occupier or a cluster on one theme – take on the town centre anchor status that only large retailers used to have…?

It’d be interesting as ever to hear your thoughts…