It’s a really good time if you’re a council or BID team to be putting maximum effort into helping get empty units back in use.
We’re now at the half way point in the 2026 lettings season which will often build into its second half with many retail and hospitality brands targeting a pre-Christmas opening.
I realise as I write this – especially as the temps are in the 30s – that the previous line might prompt some groans around my timing of that Xmas mention, but bear with me…
At the heart of our approach to tackling highstreet vacancy is a belief that by getting a positive, proactive ‘place partnership’ in play you can aim to halve your headline vacancy rate in 18 months…
…and it’s super encouraging to have had so many conversations with officers we’re working with in some of the 46 The Vacant Shops Academy commission locations, that shows they’re on the case.
So just this week (and bearing in mind we’re focused on just one of the many place priorities), we’ve…
- shared a leading practitioner briefing on High Street Rental Auctions;
- highlighted ‘promoting empty units as an opportunity’ case studies;
- exchanged bringing un- and under-used upper floors back into play insights;
- explored ‘next steps’ on taking our “get the keys” initiative to another town;
- pointed to resources on community-led approaches to asset management and running resident & existing businesses consultations;
- emphasised why we see education and health as such strong go-to options for filling empty units, with examples to illustrate;
- talked through top tips on place-focused pop-up shop projects from our new guide and toolkit on that high profile and popular route to getting units back underway quickly.
It’s so heartening to see town and city centre teams on the tackling vacancy case, and making an impact. If your place is keen to join them, please give us a shout…!
