Vacant Commercial Properties (Temporary Use)

Motion for leave to bring in a Bill (Standing Order No. 23)3.41 pm

I beg to move,

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to enable local authorities to allocate for temporary use by charities, community organisations and small businesses any vacant commercial properties during the period of their vacancy; to provide for certain obligations on landlords of commercial property in connection with such allocations; and for connected purposes.

During the last general election, I kept my election literature very simple, making only three pledges. One of those was to improve the state of our local high streets, known in County Durham as front streets. Everywhere I go in North Durham, this is a matter of great concern for residents. Within living memory, both of the larger towns in the constituency—Stanley and Chester-le-Street—had thriving bustling front streets, with a variety of independent traders selling food, clothing and other items, larger stores, a range of pubs, banks, and entertainment venues, such as cinemas. Sadly, that is no longer the case.

Chester-le-Street has a fine selection of independent retailers and cafés, such as Cafe Neena’s, Computer Centre, Chester Le Geek, GW Horners pub, In the Closet, Carsons Cafe Bar, and REfUSE community café. In recent months, we have seen excellent new additions to the front street, including Willow’s Bakehouse and Pretty Busy Blooms. However, Chester-le-Street’s front street is blighted by vacant landmark sites, including the former Barclays, Santander, HSBC and Halifax banks—which will sadly be joined by Lloyds, closing in January—and large, empty landmark pubs including the Queens Head and Red Lion.

In Stanley, the situation is far worse. The former Board School site reached a stage where it had to be demolished. We have literally the burned-out remnants of Bertie’s Bar, and there are very few remaining active units among the vacant premises. It creates a depressing air of dereliction, which is a source of deep shame and disappointment to residents, who take great pride in the history of their town. It is desperately unfair on the small number of businesses, such as the lovely DH9 café, that are striving to keep the front street alive.

While in both cases there is need for improvement, residents have explained to me that the relatively worse performance of Stanley is largely down to the nature of the landlords. In Chester-le-Street, the main landlord is local to the town, committed deeply to it and takes care to curate his front street holdings by making generous arrangements to help new businesses get started. In Stanley, however, the tale is different. Many of the key landlords are absentees who bought their sites speculatively and have never even visited the town to see what they purchased. When approached by potential tenants, they make wholly unreasonable rent and other demands, as they would rather maintain a high notional value for their property in the hopes of a future sale than accept a lower rent to get the premises occupied. There are a limited number of premises in Chester-le-Street in similar circumstances too.

The challenges facing our front streets in Chester-le-Street and Stanley are faced by many high streets across the country. The universal nature of this issue, and its paramount importance to our constituents up and down the country, is demonstrated by the geographical spread of the Members sponsoring the Bill. From Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford to Sittingbourne and Sheppey, Truro and Falmouth and beyond, I am grateful to my hon. Friends who are backing the Bill to revitalise our high streets. We are all proud to be part of a Labour Government who are already delivering for small businesses across the UK.

Labour’s plan for small businesses places the growth and productivity of smaller firms at its core. It will help make the UK the best place to start and grow a business. From creating a business growth service that helps local businesses access the advice and support that they need, to pledging to end the scourge of late payments, which drains £11 billion from our economy every year, this Labour Government are standing up for our high streets. We are expanding start-up loans, overhauling the business rates system so that 250,000 small businesses will benefit from up to 40% off their rates, and standing firmly behind the shops, cafés and entrepreneurs who keep our town centres alive.

The Bill strives to add to the impressive record of our Labour Government. It aims to give local authorities the power to step in and compel absentee landlords to make empty shop units available temporarily to charities, community groups and small businesses. The aim is to address the growing number of empty shops and commercial units, each of which represents the wasted potential of a space that could be serving customers, hiring local people and bringing footfall to the town centre.

The Bill will provide a lifeline to new enterprises, giving them the backing that they may need to break through and become a staple of the local community. Whether filled by a small business employing our constituents, or a charity or community organisation providing vital services for the most vulnerable, those spaces could be so much more than a vacuum.

The Bill presents us with two visions of our town centres. The first is all too familiar to Members across the House: a ghost town of empty shops, lost potential and eerily quiet streets. The second is a brighter alternative: a thriving town centre, where every unit provides value to our constituents, and to which more people come to do their shopping, to treat themselves, and to spend time with loved ones. I know which of those visions our constituents put us here to deliver, and the Bill would help us get there.

The state of the high street is the clearest visible indicator of the state of the economy, and it is of paramount importance to how the public see the communities that we live in. The Bill fits in with the tangible steps that the Labour Government are taking to restore pride in place in our communities; for example, the aptly named Pride in Place scheme is injecting £20 million into some of the most deprived communities in the country, including South Stanley in my constituency.

We should have zero tolerance for eyesore, derelict buildings. Premises sit empty, while many organisations, charities, businesses and community groups desperately need them. If there were more people working on the high street, that would naturally bring more footfall—visitors who will use other shops and cafés. The high street naturally faces problems, due to increased internet shopping and out-of-town shopping centres, but we do not need to accept terminal decline. We need to reimagine our high streets as community hubs that people will once again be proud to visit. My constituents and those of other hon. Members deserve better. I commend the Bill to the House.

That Luke Akehurst, Dan Aldridge, Danny Beales, Dr Allison Gardner, Leigh Ingham, Jayne Kirkham, Amanda Martin, Kevin McKenna, Mike Reader, Alistair Strathern, Dr Lauren Sullivan and Peter Swallow present the Bill.

Luke Akehurst accordingly presented the Bill.