Initially proposed by the previous Conservative government, legislation introducing High Street Rental Auctions (HSRAs) came into effect, within England, under the current Labour government on 2 December 2024.
The government press release from November 2024 explained how “the move will stop disengaged landlords from sitting on empty properties for more than 365 days in a 24-month period, before councils can step in and auction a one-to-five year lease”, and local authority leaders were invited to express interest in becoming “early adopters”.
Local authorities are not expected to bear the costs of carrying out HSRAs from their existing budgets. A “new burdens payment” is available to cover the cost of implementing a rental auction per property, and in total the government has made available £1.5 million of funding to help English local authorities deliver the policy.
Ben Stephenson from The High Street Consultancy recently launched the High Street Rental Auctions Support Network group on LinkedIn, which you can find and join here.
As an early supporter of High Street Rental Auctions, Ben has been following their introduction with interest, including working to advise early adopters.
The LinkedIn group is intended as a space primarily for local authorities and their partners to swap best practice and advice as they learn how to exercise the power to improve high streets in England.
We encourage those with an interest in HSRAs to join the group and get involved in the discussion. Meanwhile, if your local authority needs assistance in taking HSRAs forward, that is something we can help with.
