Just imagine how much #highstreet impact this would have…!

🗝️ “A new £25m funding programme for centres with above average vacancy rate, to focus on bringing empties back into use.”

That’s one of two ‘Vacant to Vibrant’ recommendations in a just-published Manifesto for towns and cities from The BID Foundation called #PlacesForEveryone.

🤔 The national vacancy rate stands at 14%. Could we realistically drop that into single figures…?

📉 If one place can reduce its number of empty units from 23 to 3 in 18 months, and another looks like halving a 25% rate in the same timeframe. Maybe.

It was also really encouraging to see a key principle of our work featured in the Manifesto where it says:

“Experience from #TheVacantShopsAcademy suggests places tackle vacancy most quickly and sustainably, and improve the mix of uses when agents, landlords, businesses, community groups, councils, and BIDs work together.”

💡 That’s crucial. Tackling vacancy can’t just be “an agents-landlord thing”. All the listed players have a part to play. Without that you’ll be less effective – as towns and city centres trying just one or two initiatives rather than the full set are finding.

It’s been brilliant to work with a number of #BID colleagues and councils who are taking a lead on this crucial issue for their places, and to evidence the positive progress they can make.

📕 With publication and wider sharing of the Manifesto, it’d be great to see others take up this approach, and find vacancy rates in more town and city centres tumbling.

Is your place on it…?

We’re really lucky with #TheVacantShopsAcademy to be working with a number of #BID managers on tackling #highstreet vacancy challenges (with more just joining)…

🎤 …but it was interesting and inspiring to sit quietly (for me) at the back of the room for The BID Foundation #PlacesForEveryone event, and hear presenters and panellists talk about the huge range of other projects and initiatives they’re leading in our places.

Sooooo much passion, commitment, experience, resilience and attention to detail to draw on. An enjoyable and insightful day including the launch of their ‘Manifesto for Towns and Cities’ of which more next week.

🙏 Thanks for the invite.

#20YearsOfBIDs #placemaking

📸 Did want to use as the main image this striking guy you pass on the way to the venue if you train in (as we always try to do), and hope no-one’s in jestful connections mode…! 😉

What makes you visit a place…

…and importantly, return time and time again, and encourage others to do so.

Thinking this while out & about #highstreet #placemaking with #TheVacantShopsAcademy in the lovely Cathedral City of Ripon.

So factors…? Maybe.

🛍️ Attractive #indie #retail and #hospitality streets;

• History & heritage buildings;
• A neatly re-purposed bank (I get this one is a bit geeky, but wanted chance to highlight what looks to be a brand example of the art here);

📚 Particular businesses or organisations you look out for (a #bookshop is always a draw for me, but you’ll have your own).

It’s a crucial part of our tackling vacancy work, to understand what’s attractive in your offer for the impactful ‘promote’ phase, but also what would be a good add to those you have already when you try recruit new occupiers for empty units.

🤔 It’d be great to hear what you think…?

🤔 Who said that about where…?

While you’re thinking (if you have to), I’ll say it made for a very enjoyable and insightful #highstreet #placemaking out & about with #TheVacantShopsAcademy.

Just visiting in this case. And found lots to like: history & heritage buildings, gardens, arts & crafts and an awesome group of #indie #retail and #hospitality businesses, just a sample of which we’ve featured in the image set.

Like many market towns, it has a challenging section currently but that – I’d venture – is something that can be tackled, especially with a determined local team on the case.

🗝️ And that does mean there are some probably unusual opportunities to be part of a town where available options don’t present that often, tho maybe not for long…!

“Problem is two of the empty units we have are ex-banks.”

It’s something I heard again this week while out & about with #TheVacantShopsAcademy, and is a regular challenge places face.

🤔 Why…?

• Often the size, frontage, layout don’t suit alternative #highstreet uses;
• They’re in #heritage buildings with added requirements to get them back into use…

💷 …and in any case that means (with the exception of the cities which swept away that relief) there’s no business rates to pay while empty, so reducing the incentive to find a new tenant;

• The bank paid a higher rent than the market can match now so the landlord holds on in hope…
• …they may even have left with time to go on the lease and so are still paying, again reducing the chances of a new tenant being sought.

🏫 If that’s your town or city centre, you could be looking at high profile, large units sitting empty for a while.

Unless.

As part of a ‘place partnership’ approach bringing together agents, landlords, businesses, community, council(s), BID where there is one, you lend a hand.

💡 It may appeal to some #retail or #hospitality uses if you go looking for those in that group; it might work for arts & crafts, creative, culture, community, leisure or similar uses; splitting up (either to create smaller ground floor units, or separating away the uppers) might be an option; a tackling vacancy grant may help; a #popup project could get things started…

It’d be great to hear what’s occurring with former banks in your place or if you’d like help exploring the possibilities.

Let us know…

Insightful and enjoyable day with Louise Welsby and the team at Buy-From this week.

🚈 After two and a half years of tackling #highstreet vacancy projects for #TheVacantShopsAcademy, it’s really helpful to take time to stand back, reflect on the journey so far and talk thru the best way forward.

🗝️ It’s been great to work with #property and #placemaking colleagues in the 24 locations we’ve been commissioned in so far (with 3 more to start next month)…

…but we strongly believe in – and we’re seeing the positive impact of – our ‘audit, engage, encourage, promote’ approach, and are setting out now to take that to every place where the number of empty units is too high.

If the vacancy rate in your town or city centre is in the mid – high teens or over twenty per cent, it’s higher than it need be. Agents, landlords, businesses, community, council(s) and BID where there is one, working together, can bring that down. Leave things be or have only one or two of that list on the case and things are more likely to worsen.

If that’s your place we’d love to hear from you…!

📸 Thanks for remembering to capture an image of the visit Louise ( I think 🫣).

I’m not sure how much of the campaign cake #highstreet and specifically tackling vacancy will get, maybe a small slice given other priorities.

But now we know places can halve their headline vacancy rate and by doing things all towns and cities can do, why wouldn’t it appeal.

We know how to do this, and #TheVacantShopsAcademy #HighstreetsManifesto sets out what we’d need. Even the new government giving us just the first of them would take a chunk off the national 14% rate.

🙏 So here goes…!

• Ask (and resource) every local authority to report on vacancy numbers twice a year, and work with agents, landlords, businesses, community and BID where there is one to overcome barriers to let to include…
• 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 #popup 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.

🤔 What would you add / adjust…?

A useful addition to the tackling #highstreet vacancy toolkit or unnecessary and unworkable.

⚖️ The incoming High Street Rental Auctions power for local councils has certainly divided opinion amongst #property and #placemaking colleagues.

🤔 What do you think…?

This is how the update this week read:

“New powers for communities to regenerate high streets and fill empty shops will be in force by the summer, the government has announced.”

“Where a high street shop has been empty for over a year, High Street Rental Auctions will allow local leaders to step in and auction off a rental lease for up to five years. Auctions will take place with no reserve price, giving local businesses and community groups the opportunity to occupy space on the high street at a competitive market rate.”

🏢 It’s being welcomed by places that are trying to get long-time empty units back into play, and feel frustrated by efforts to connect and engage with landlords. But opposed by those who say that it’s misunderstood the reasons for vacancy.

For me, I still favour the positive ‘audit, engage, encourage, promote’ approach we’re working with town and city centres on thru #TheVacantShopsAcademy, and believe that in the vast majority of cases that’ll get the job done. Thinking back over 11 years of doing this tho there are some units we didn’t win, and maybe having this power in reserve might have done the trick.

We’ll see.

It’d be great to get your take on it…

One of the (many) joys of #highstreet #placemaking is finding projects that are making a real difference in their communities, and in these cases making great use of difficult to let vacant units.

As part of an all round enjoyable and insightful out & about in the city of Exeter (of which more later), I was lucky enough to see 3 special initiatives within a few feet of each other on the upper floor of The Guildhall Shopping Centre.

🦖 Little Exeter, a not-for-profit, #community #popup: “…utilising a city centre location and created by passionate people who have poured in their love and attention to create a fun, safe place to play for under 7s, funded by our awesome city partners”;

🎨 Meraki Art School: “Fun and inspiring art classes for young people aged 4-16 with a passion for art & craft, run and delivered by professional artists”;

• And between the two, an innovative Baby Nursing and Feeding room.

🤳🏽 I can’t do justice to the stories, the thinking behind them and the partnership working involved, in a single post, but would encourage town and city centre colleagues, especially those in shopping centres, to make contact to hear more.

All three are well-thought out, community-focused, carefully delivered projects that I’m certain will be of interest and could be a solution for your place…?

Thanks to Nikki Fairclough for sharing those stories and to Nicola Wheeler at InExeter BID for making the introduction.

🏗️ There’s always something changing to see on a #placemaking out & about in #Oxford.

Not to ‘audit, engage’ as I did in city centre management days there, but just to walk-see out of interest.

🛌 What was #retail repurposed to hotel;

• Retail & services (uppers) converted to office;
• Retail switch to #hospitality;

📚 And among all the change, for the book lovers in the pictured case, one of many examples here of enduring retail.

If you had walked and logged your town or city centre two years ago and checked in again this week, what differences have you seen…?

🤔 For the better or…?

It’d be great to hear…