Cheltenham Council takes action to tackle empty high street shops…

Cheltenham Council is using a two pronged approach under its innovative Business Improvement District (BID) organisation to tackle empty shops on its high streets.

The Business Improvement District (BID) is a business-led body formed in the borough to improve a centrally defined commercial area. The organisation is funded by businesses themselves, for the benefit of those businesses, and it aims to coordinate investment into the area, and to deliver projects and services to enhance those already provided by the Council.

Cheltenham says, “A BID is a not-for-profit company, which can only be formed following consultation and a ballot in which businesses vote on a BID proposal… for a maximum five-year term the BID and operates within a legislative framework… defined within the business plan [businesses] will be required to pay the mandatory BID levy.”

First established in Canada and the US, BIDS now operate around the world and there are more than 300 in the UK, including Bath, Bristol, Swindon, Salisbury and Worcester.

The two-pronged approach will tackle empty shops in Cheltenham town centre where landlords of empty shops are being told to do more in an effort to boost the high street by filling their vacant premises.

The borough council and Cheltenham BID are pursuing the two-pronged strategy which starts with engagement (consultation) and ends with enforcement.

A respected industry expert has been appointed to work with the town’s property agents and property owners, while the council is doing its part by ramping up its existing commitments and issuing warning letters to those responsible. These warnings will request that owners review and improve the condition of their properties when needed.

Currently, 32 properties in the town have been identified as in need of improvements, one of these being the former Sports Direct unit (102-104 Cheltenham High Street) which Cheltenham says is a “live example of active engagement with the property owner and the agent.”

A recent BID survey of Cheltenham town centre found there were 43 unoccupied ground floor retail units in the central BID zone, representing 8.85% of a total of 486 units. Springboard, the Retail Footfall Analytics specialist, in its July vacancy report, showed that Cheltenham’s vacancy rate was 8.8%, set against a national average figure of 11.2% and the South West average of 9.4%.

There are new openings planned for this coming autumn, which Cheltenham Council hopes will lead to an even further reduction in it’s average vacancy rate.

“Footfall is a good indicator of the strength of the high street and again this shows Cheltenham High Street is resilient to the current economic conditions; despite the impacts of the pandemic and the recent cost of living crisis, businesses have responded positively. The peak was early in July and ties in with the dates of the music festival, Wimbledon Big Screen, and launch of the Umbrella project,” says Cheltenham Borough Council.

Cllr Max Wilkinson, cabinet member for economic development, culture, tourism and wellbeing, says:

“Many people are concerned about the high street and we are too – particularly empty and unsightly shop fronts. Despite the well-known challenges faced by every town and city centre, Cheltenham is faring relatively well.

“However, we will not be complacent and we know there is work to do. Many of the landlords of shops in Cheltenham are investment firms and they can be challenging to deal with. That’s why we are pursuing a two-pronged approach of stepping up discussions with agents and landlords of empty premises, while taking enforcement action when it is needed – as evidenced by the 32 letters already sent.”

The Vacant Shops Academy was commissioned by the Council and Cheltenham BID to audit existing units in Cambray Place, The Strand, High Street, including the lower High Street, Promenade, Montpellier and the Regent Arcade to help develop a plan to fill them.

The delivery of this plan, in addition to the recently renovated Clarence Fountain pocket park and the Wilson Art Gallery and Museum refurbishment, is continuing the council’s work, “to create a vibrant town centre for residents and visitors,” says the Council.

The Council is powerless to set business rates or dictate what the rent levels will be in shops owned by private landlords. Many of the empty premises in Cheltenham, says the Council, are owned by investment or pension firms, and some of these are offshore.

The new programme of activity by BID, “is expected to last one year and includes a review of business engagement alongside formal enforcement action by the council against landlords who do not ensure their premises are well-maintained,” the Council says.

Heath Gunter, Cheltenham BID chief executive, said:

“The traditional high street is changing and through working with The Vacant Shops Academy we can ensure that Cheltenham is at the forefront of this evolution. It is an important piece of work that needs to be done and it is great that Cheltenham BID can partner with Cheltenham Borough Council on this project.”

Enforcement action means using existing legislation to demand action of owners who do not respond to consultations: a section of the planning act (Chapter II, Section 215) gives Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) the power to require ‘proper maintenance of land’.

In effect this allows LPAs to take enforcement action where, “it appears that the amenity of a part of their area, or of an adjoining area, is adversely affected by the condition of the land in their area”.

Where the Council and BID consider it does adversely affect the area they may serve a notice on the owner and occupier of land under this section of the act. Such a notice will then set out the steps the Council considers is required to remedy the condition of the land.