The UK’s High Street Rental Auctions (HSRAs) are now live across England. Enabled by Part 10 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 and commenced on 2 December 2024, they give local authorities a discretionary power to force the letting—by auction—of qualifying, long-vacant high-street premises on short leases (typically 1–5 years). Central government’s non-statutory guidance, updated in June 2025, sets out the mechanics from notices to template leases and auction packs.
How it works (in plain English)
If a property on a designated high street or in a town centre has been vacant for at least 366 days within the previous 24 months, a council may serve notices and run an auction for a short tenancy. The owner does not have a veto (nor do superior landlords or mortgagees), though there are opportunities to engage, propose a tenancy, or challenge via counter-notice on defined grounds. The aim is to get inert space back into productive, public-facing use (retail, services, leisure, community, culture).
The government has issued a full suite of forms (initial/final letting notices, counter-notice) and model tenancy documents to standardise the process. A June 2025 update also recommends entering a Land Registry restriction at notice stage so incoming parties can see an auction is in train.
What it means for landlords
For responsive, actively-marketing owners, the immediate message is “work with your council, or the council may step in.” The regime can compress voids but reduces control over tenant selection, lease terms and timing. Industry commentary has warned of lender concerns, residual liabilities, and the risk that low-rent short lets could reset local comparables—though the counter-argument is that activation beats blight.
Two important guard-rails temper the power:
It’s discretionary: councils choose when to use it and must follow the statutory tests and guidance.
It doesn’t trump other consents: planning permission (where needed) and Listed Building Consent still bite; the auction lease cannot authorise unlawful works.
What it means for places
Academic and policy literature on high streets consistently links persistent vacancy with lower footfall, safety perceptions and investment confidence. HSRAs are a behavioural nudge with teeth: they create a default path to occupation when negotiation stalls. Government frames them as part of a place-activation toolkit rather than a full market fix (they don’t address business rates, online competition or structural catchments).
The Controversies
Critics—particularly landlord bodies—argue HSRAs erode property rights, risk mis-matching tenants to buildings, and socialise costs (e.g., compliance, basic fit-out) onto owners for limited upside on short terms. Proponents counter that auctions are targeted at long-term vacancies and include procedural safeguards, while the broader public interest in re-animating centres justifies intervention.
There’s also a live debate about quality: will short leases encourage low-capex, pop-up uses that churn, or can councils curate resilient, community-anchoring occupiers? Practice will vary by place and by how assertively councils use pre-auction engagement and conditions.
Applying it to Gloucester: a city rich in listed fabric
Gloucester is unusually heritage-dense: ~680–700 listed buildings, 14 conservation areas, and a nationally significant docks and medieval street pattern. That richness is an asset—and a constraint.
In that context, HSRAs could help re-fill stubborn voids along the Gate Streets and routes into the Docks, with likely targets being small and medium retail frontages where vacancy drags on the public realm. Politically, Gloucester has recently mooted adopting and using HSRA powers, signalling a willingness to deploy them where voluntary routes fail.
But the heritage overlay matters:
Listed Building Consent still applies. Any works affecting character—shopfront changes, signage, internal fabric alterations—require consent regardless of an auction outcome. Early dialogue with the City Conservation Officer and use of model shopfront guidance will be essential to avoid delay or enforcement.
Fit-out economics are tighter in listed stock. Short leases may not support deep retrofits (M&E, accessibility, thermal upgrades). Councils may need to shape auction packs with realistic works scopes, staged licences for alterations, and signpost grant/heritage funding where available.
Curation over churn. Given Gloucester’s concentrated heritage streetscapes, the city will benefit most if auctions prioritise public-facing, spill-out and cultural uses that animate frontages without heavy interventions.
A pragmatic read-out for Gloucester
Used sparingly and well, HSRAs could be a useful backstop: they shift bargaining power on a handful of long-term empties, restore overlooked frontages, and send a clear signal that vacancy has a cost. But success will hinge on heritage-literate execution—tight auction packs, early conservation input, and realistic lease terms that reflect the additional time and cost of working in listed buildings.
For landlords of Gloucester’s historic properties, the takeaway is simple: re-engage early (before notices land), assemble your heritage and building-regulations strategy, and be ready to propose a credible letting that beats the auction. For the council, transparently linking HSRAs to a wider place strategy (public realm, wayfinding, rates relief lobbying, and active travel to boost footfall) will help ensure auctions are a means, not the end.
Sources & further reading: Government guidance and templates (updated June 2025); the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (Part 10); Parliamentary Library briefing (Feb 2025); and sector analyses from Dentons, TLT and others on lender/landlord implications. Gloucester heritage context from Historic England and City Council materials.
Jason I J Smith 