‘Carrot and Stick’ Plan For Empty Scarborough Shops

A new pilot project that could force businesses in Scarborough to let out their vacant properties has been approved as part of a plan to improve economic performance.

​A “carrot and stick” pilot project in the town has been approved by North Yorkshire Council’s executive committee and could see it use compulsory purchase orders to address the “blight of empty and increasingly derelict properties” on high streets.

​The scheme will see the introduction of new powers that allow local authorities to require landlords to rent out “persistently vacant commercial properties to new tenants such as local businesses or community groups”.

​Following its approval at a meeting on Tuesday, March 17, preparatory work will start immediately, and the high street rental auction process could start as early as May.

​Cllr Mark Crane, executive member for open to business, said:

 

"We decided Scarborough because it seemed the obvious place with the number of vacancies it's got. It's a pilot to look at a particular area and to work with the people that own property in that area. The retail property, of course, that is to try and bring it back into use. The criteria would be that the property had been empty 366 days out of the last two years.

"So, you know, just over a year in that period of time, we would look to work with the owners of the property to get it rented so that we had people in. And that obviously would drive footfall further in the particular area."

He added:

 

"Ultimately we could effectively compulsory purchase a property. I don't think that's something we'd be wanting to do particularly. I can certainly see problems with trying to do that. And we wouldn't want to buy a load of property that was then empty on any high street and certainly not in Scarborough.

"So, I think it's a positive story. I think if we can work with these people and it's a little bit of a carrot and stick approach, but with that we can hopefully improve the number of shops that are available to people who go to Scarborough. We clearly need to review it after a period of time and see whether we wanted to carry on and whether we wanted to roll it out to other areas."

Councillor Liz Colling has questions:

" It's a marvellous opportunity and there are plenty of places you could choose from in Scarborough to use this initiative. Got a couple of questions though. To what extent is this initiative dependent on pride in place? Funding because a decision on whether this will be a project that goes forward will not be made till the 27th of March.

"And secondly, and I wasn't quite clear from the papers, but I know there's been some discussion as part of this initiative, would we pay for some improvements to premises to make them relatable? And if we do, what are the mechanisms to recover that? because quite frankly, it does not make sense to me that public money is used to make landlords more money because we make their properties better and they can let them."

​Scarborough has the highest town centre vacancy rate in the county at 18.6 per cent, followed by Malton at 17.1 per cent, while Whitby has a vacancy rate of just 7.6 per cent, according to a council report.

​​The council said its previous strategies, including offering fully funded vinyl wraps for vacant properties, had failed.

​Properties that have been vacant for more than a year in the past two years would be eligible if they are deemed suitable for high street use, such as retail, offices, public services, hospitality, entertainment, or light industry.

​NYC stated that the properties would also need to be considered beneficial to the local economy, society, or environment if occupied.

​Nic Harne, NYC’s corporate director for community development, said:

“These are very new powers and just by bringing this in, we can bring landlords to the table.”

​​A report prepared for the executive committee meeting stated: “Increasingly, the condition of the town centre of Scarborough, in particular Huntriss Row, where there is a concentration of vacant premises, is being raised with the Council.

​​“Given the lack of impact of earlier initiatives, the limits of existing powers and the local imperative to tackle the issue, it is proposed the council pilots the use of the new high street rental auction (HSRA) powers to compel landlords to improve the vacant premises and secure new tenants.”

​​The HSRA process takes around 22 to 24 weeks to complete.

​Cllr Heather Phillips, executive member for corporate services, told colleagues:

"The  state of some of the buildings is horrendous, but we've had a long history in Scarborough of two or three particular landlords holding onto their assets as they've deteriorated and become less of an asset and more of a liability. So I would want to be cautious about taking on new liabilities. I know that the seafront is dominated by one particular family as is the town centre by another, so, and we have a smattering of international investment funds.

"I like the idea of pop-up shops, seasonal stuff maybe, but maybe not so many vape shops, charity shops, betting establishments. But if that's what the market wants, then we might not be allowed to interfere in that part of it."

​At the meeting, councillors also criticised the combined authority’s elected Mayor of York and North Yorkshire for what they described as an absence from the development of the scheme.

​Cllr Richard Foster, executive member for managing the environment, said:

“The mayor is supposed to be the man of economic development – it’s a Labour policy and I thought the Labour mayor would have been all over this, but he hasn’t shown his face at all.

​“After all, he’s the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, and that includes Scarborough.”