Government plans to shake up the high street are short-sighted and raise huge concerns, a North East retail property specialist claims.
Under the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, landlords will be compelled to let out retail units that have been vacant for longer than six months.
Ministers hope to reduce the number of boarded-up shops while creating new opportunities for local small businesses and community groups as well as helping increase footfall and spending in town centres.
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But Ian Thurlbeck, director at Newcastle-based retail property specialist @retail, described the move as an unrealistic proposal that fails to take into account regional differences.
He says it could lead to hundreds of empty properties being auctioned off to unscrupulous tenants.
“This short-sighted scheme fails to address some fundamental issues, placing the burden directly on property owners and feeding off the general sense of mistrust by people in so-called ‘greedy” landlords,” Mr Thurlbeck said.
“It raises many unanswered questions. For instance, what if the tenant who wins the auction is a rogue, pays none of the outgoings and trashes the property – who picks up the bill then? And do the local authorities tasked with running the auctions have the requisite experience and expertise? Will they be willing to take responsibility if things go wrong?"
Mr Thurlbeck said that while there are fewer retail operators requiring high street space than previously, the perception of hundreds of North East high streets facing terminal decline is simply untrue.
“There is a popular misconception that our high streets are littered with empty shops, leading to a downward spiral of neglect, decay and blight,” he said. “This is not the case and here in the North East, we see many high streets that are thriving and as busy as anywhere else in the country.
“Moreover, regional vacancy rates are in line with national trends and in our experience, high street retail activity in Newton Aycliffe, Durham City, Bishop Auckland, Peterlee, Chester le Street, Stanley, Consett, Seaham and Crook among other places, where we have lately updated the council with vacancy rates for these town centres, remains robust.
“There are pockets within some of these town centres where vacancy rates exceed the national average, but I would say that this is as much a national issue as it is a North East one.”
Blaming landlords for long term retail vacancies is also unrealistic, Mr Thurlbeck said, because landlords cannot afford to have their properties lying empty for extended periods - @retail has seen 99% of landlords keen to see their property let.
He added: “The alternative is to suffer the cost of rates, repairs, insurance, security and maintenance. In our experience, most landlords faced with limited demand are prepared to agree short-term, rent-free leases with charities, local organisations and other groups, who can demonstrate they will be reliable and responsible occupiers. This helps to offset these costs while searching for a more sustainable solution.
“Indeed, landlords are often keen to mitigate their outgoings on vacant space and most of @retail’s clients who are faced with a lack of demand at market rents will let to charities and other organisations simply to mitigate rates.”
