Gloucester's empty shops to be auctioned for rent in bid to 'kick start' regeneration

Empty shops in Gloucester city centre could soon be brought back into use, through a scheme which enables councils to auction vacant retail properties for rent.

Gloucester City Council has voted in favour of adopting the government's High Street Rental Auction initiative, which aims to bring high streets 'back to life' through filling empty retail units, according to Carmelo Garcia, local democracy reporter.

First launched in December 2024, the scheme gives local authorities the power to require landlords to rent out persistently vacant commercial properties to new tenants, for a period of between one and five years.

It involves councils holding rental auctions to let premises that have been unoccupied continuously for 12 months, or for at least 366 days within a two-year period, to businesses and community groups seeking commercial space.

Councillor Karen James, who proposed a motion to adopt the initiative at this month's full council meeting, said: 'The empty shops in our city centre are a problem.

'Bringing these empty units back into use is vital to transforming the look and feel of the city centre for both visitors and residents alike.'

She added that the council should step up and focus on vacant council-owned buildings, too.

'By approaching the problem from both sides, it should be possible to kick start the regeneration of the city centre and breathe life back into our retail offering.'

Community engagement cabinet member Rebecca Trimnell added: 'There are too many shops in our city of Gloucester that are standing empty and something has to be done to fill them.

'Every empty shop tells a silent story, dreams that couldn’t survive and families losing livelihoods.

'Many of us are reminded every day when we walk past such empty buildings in this city.'

The policy, which was voted in unanimously by councillors, is also supported by Gloucester MP Alex McIntyre, who has launched his own campaign to 'revitalise' the city centre retail area, to make it 'a destination again'.

He said: 'When I’m out talking to constituents on the doorstep the state of Gloucester city centre comes up time and again, with people in areas of the city like Quedgeley telling me they haven’t been into the city centre for years.

'There is so much to celebrate about Gloucester and our independent businesses, which is why I’m making it my mission to eat a meal or have a drink at every independent cafe and restaurant in the city.

'These business owners need our support; and they need Gloucester City Council to do more to ensure the city centre is somewhere people want to visit, to spend their time and hard-earned money.'