My Lords, there is so much that can be said regarding high streets that is very well evidenced, and in fact there is consensus about what does and does not work. Our concern on these Benches is that the various measures in the Bill, even when combined—it is important to see that—probably do not go far enough or are bold enough to really level up or regenerate. However, this is not Second Reading. I am pleased to speak positively to this part of the Bill and to this group of improving and strengthening amendments, which have been well described in appropriate detail by their proposers, particularly the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman of Ullock, as has already been mentioned.
I have to confess to becoming mildly excited about the prospect of local government being able to oblige landlords to rent out persistently vacant high street premises through the rental auctions process. As the elected Mayor of Watford, I inherited a high street shamefully branded in a tabloid headline as “Ibiza on acid”, and where the national crime survey showed one of our town centre side streets as one of the worst crime hotspots in the country several years running. Yes, more bad headlines, but more importantly it was backed up by local people’s opinions, experiences and—never to be forgotten—their perceptions. There was much work to be done, and it took years.
Thus I have bitter experiences of first, and most importantly, trying to track down the landlords of vacant premises—in other words, those who have real legal responsibilities and can actually do something and not just pass the buck. It was rarely straightforward, and any improvement that the Government can make to ease that part of the process would be very welcome and undoubtedly strengthen this policy.
For us, the formation of a business improvement district was critical to eventual success, and one hopes that they continue to be supported. In fact, it was the BID team which was able to do much of the footwork that is going to be needed of continuously monitoring vacant units and all the other premises on the high street. Given the skills and capacity issues in local councils that have been mentioned, this is definitely going to further stretch resources, particularly in district councils. Will the Minister reassure us that the Government have plans to target these issues?
On further investigation, we found that there was often a wide range of reasons why properties were empty, many of them legitimate and often complex and challenging. Amendment 426 in the name of the noble Earl, Lord Lytton, essentially speaks to that dilemma. He may be surprised to learn that I can empathise. I say to him that any good council would and should seek to work with a landlord in the circumstances outlined in his amendment and help and support the landlord in getting the premises re-let. But I recognise that this is not always the case and despair when I hear case studies such as that from the noble Baroness, Lady Fox, of when things have clearly gone awry and councils have not listened. I do not believe in being prescriptive about it because I could stand here and tell noble Lords how pedestrianisation revitalised our high street. My instincts are always to say, “Let councils decide what suits their circumstances”, but in the full knowledge that sometimes they mess it up.
What was key was the partnership approach—agents, landlords, businesses, the council and the community working collaboratively to get things to a point where a compulsory rental auction would not be necessary. That would be a measure of its success. But all too often we found that the landlord was not the kind of one described by the noble Earl but a pension group or similar investor with a wide range of holdings and for which a couple of shops in Watford High Street were small beer. For a wide range of commercial reasons it did not “suit their circumstances at the moment” to re-let. I sincerely hope that these are the landlords that this legislation will drive to the table.
The word “community” in my list of partners is important. Amendments 417 and 437 emphasise the involvement of the community, which is the heart of any place, as we know—the hub for getting together to enjoy a wide range of activities and events. In short, it is hard to imagine that a local plan would be found sound if it did not involve a policy for the high street and significantly involve the local community in its formation. Can the Minister confirm this?
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Some landlords can be challenging to deal with and, as our experiences in compulsory purchase cases show, if there is a way around a new perceived impediment, it will be found. Indeed, businesses are hatched to help landlords do just this. Try Googling, “How to get out of paying your business rates” or, in the case of this policy, “What to do to ensure your premises aren’t vacant for a year and a day”. Therefore, the second stage after the notice has been served is important. Used positively, it enables partners to get together to sort things out, but conversely it allows landlords time to employ various ruses to try to convince the council that they are sorting it out, so that the council will call off bailiffs. Thus we strongly support Amendments 421, 422, 423 and 424 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman of Ullock, for all the detailed reasons that she has so helpfully given. They would speed up and tighten up the process and give ultimate powers to the council as opposed to the Secretary of State.
Amendment 418 in the name of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Etherton, and the noble Lord, Lord Thurlow, seeks to support landlords caught in
that intermediate position and offers a solution which seems entirely reasonable—that they must be actively seeking possession. That is all the more important, as one possible unintended consequence is that landlords heading towards the one-year vacant point might opt to avoid the auction by reverting temporarily to low-quality residential accommodation, a process made easier and quicker by recent changes to permitted development rights. Noble Lords will have noted the increased use of property guardians. Both actions, while providing some sort of home, can be business-rate loopholes, will not contribute to enhancing or improving the high street, and may even be contrary to what the council is seeking to achieve on behalf of its community. Can the Minister reassure us that the current technical consultation, which finishes in June, and the other one finishing after the Bill on the operational matters of this policy will weed out these and other unintended consequences?
We support Amendment 429 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman. Given that the council has been driven to a forced entry, it would seem a reasonable presumption that, as long as it can demonstrate that all efforts had been made to effect entry legitimately, costs should fall on the recalcitrant landlord.
The various probing amendments in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor of Stevenage, highlight all the possible issues a town centre might have which would affect its viability, and there is much evidence to show that they do. We certainly endorse Amendment 435. The disparity between warehousing and high street business rates must be evaluated.
Even if a high street has been fortunate enough to gain some of the money from the various bidding rounds in the several pots to spruce it up, the sad fact is that the key factor for a high street to be viable is that its residents have enough money in their pockets to go out and spend. Sadly, this is not the case for many towns where levelling up is needed, wanted and has been promised. As for vacant shops, full reform of business rates would be a bigger contributor to reducing empty properties than targeting landlords. I, for one, would be up for a little target practice, and I broadly welcome this part of the Bill.