How Bassetlaw District Council is reviving high streets with rental auctions

High Street Rental Auctions (HSRA) are a new power for local authorities to require landlords to rent out persistently vacant commercial properties to new tenants, such as local businesses or community groups. They were introduced in December 2024 as part of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023.

Areas with high levels of empty shops can see higher unemployment rates, upturns in anti-social behaviour and a lack of pride from residents in their local high streets. This new initiative allows the local authority to work with landlords to bring buildings back to life, reducing the number of vacant premises and aiming to increase footfall and improve the high street economy.

Bassetlaw District Council became one of the first Early Adopters of HSRA in November 2024. Since doing so, Council officers have been putting in processes to administer the new legislation across its three town centres, sharing best practice and feedback to the Minister of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and 17 other local authorities, so far, across the UK.

Background

It was identified in May 2024 through a town centre health check report undertaken for Worksop by Nexus Planning and Aspinal Verde that “the composition of retail offer in Worksop is mixed between Comparison (23.3%) and Convenience (8.9%)” and that “the town centre would benefit from a larger comparison goods offer and seeking to attract a wider variety of businesses”.

Results from the online survey, undertaken by Focus Consultants, found that despite Worksop town centre being generally well used by residents, there were many comments received that indicated the town is not residents’ first point of call due to there being so few shops, with several shops which used to attract visitors no longer trading.

When asked how strongly survey respondents agreed or disagreed with a series of statements in relation to the town centre, 66% of respondents strongly disagreed that Worksop has a good selection of shops.

Although Retford town centre had a lower vacancy rate, the town had been impacted by the closure of multiple banks, leaving key buildings vacant. A strong, independent shopping and hospitality offer is present in the town, but market insights identified key gaps in the offer and key properties that had remained vacant for more than a year.

Harworth & Bircotes has a small high street with very few vacant units, but those that were vacant were not being actively marketed and were falling into disrepair.

The Council therefore decided to use HSRA powers in all three town centres to address some of these challenges.

In March 2025, areas were designated for HSRA and vacancy registers were undertaken to understand the vacancy rates on high streets across Worksop, Retford and Harworth & Bircotes. These stood at:-

• Worksop – 19.20%
• Retford – 8.16%
• Harworth & Bircotes – 11.48%

Action taken

During the planning phase of HSRA an internal officer group was set up bringing key departmental leads together to implement the scheme. Departments involved included property, finance, comms, planning and legal.

The objectives of the internal officer group were to establish the governance for how to implement the HSRA programme in line with the Council’s constitution. To establish a consistent internal approach for identifying qualifying high street premises via an officer subgroup to undertake scoring using the council’s approved matrix system. To assess the suitability of properties for rental auction action. To coordinate engagement with property owners, tenants, and key stakeholders. To ensure legal, planning, and enforcement input is appropriately integrated. To monitor progress and outcomes of rental auction cases and to report outcomes and learning to elected members and MHCLG.

Key decisions the group is likely to make include decision to grant/refuse any proposed tenancy during the 8-week grace period, to consider any appeal from the landlord during the pre-auction period, to consider landlord representations in week 3 and 4, to review and award bids if necessary, to carry out actions to identify and mitigate risks to protect council finance and reputation, and finally to carry out actions to protect the council against legal challenge.

Following formal adoption of the areas and approval to administer the scheme, the Council engaged heavily with local commercial agents to understand the market and barriers to occupancy. Marketing particulars for suitable empty units were taken to the GRO Retail conference in London to share with high street retail and hospitality brands.

A fit-out grant initiative was launched in June 2025 using £100k from East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) from funding provided by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to stimulate the market and drive enquiries supporting the occupation of units voluntarily in the first instance.

Instead of using HSRA as a punitive tool, the council has focused on building relationships. Property owners were written to and invited to a drop-in session to learn more about HSRA, what it could mean for them and the interventions and support the Council had put in place to aid letting units voluntarily.

In order to effectively prioritise properties eligible under HSRA. The council developed its own weighted scoring matrix considering the following criteria:​

• Property condition​
• Environmental impact​
• Economic benefit​
• Community benefit​
• Location​
• Heritage value​
• Vacancy duration​
• Financial ​
• Landlord engagement.

A panel was formed, made up of planning, property, and the HSRA project lead, to score properties and scoring was then moderated by the Internal Officer group.

Recognising that investor decisions are very much data-led, the Council commissioned strategic market insight reports for each of the towns to evaluate the retail and leisure potential. The reports identified the geographic area from which the towns draw from, as well as the estimated market size and spend. The reports also identified the gaps and opportunities, highlighting under-represented retail types (e.g. value vs. premium stores), suggesting opportunities for new retailers, leisure operators or hospitality businesses based on the ACORN segmentation of the current and potential catchment demographic. This report was promptly shared with agents to aid enquiries and to help target specific retail and leisure types.

It is well-known that investors look online to find out what people are saying about their high streets. Therefore, a place marketing campaign underpinned this work to help shape a more positive narrative around our high streets, promoting the area’s strong independent offer provided by Bassetlaw’s high street heroes. Websites and social media accounts were developed showcasing quality photography and videography, promoting the town’s hidden gems, shopping and eating out offers, regular markets and busy events programme. This was further supported by a footfall driving events programme working with key partners such as our business forums, town councils and district-wide BID. Proactive positive PR was rolled out as well as strong place advertising campaigns using the photography commissioned of the high street heroes.

Watch our short video about some of the places to shop in Worksop – https://vimeo.com/1106498673/77c9a36e62

Watch our short video about some of the places to eat in Retford – https://vimeo.com/1070307275/21a357c51e

Results

This collaborative approach led to vacancy rates falling since high streets were designated in March. In October 2025, Retford’s vacancy rate had dropped from 8.16% to 5.78% In Harworth & Bircotes, vacancy rates had dropped from 11.48% to 9.84%, whilst in Worksop, it had remained level at 19.20% with shops closed counterbalanced by new shops opening.

Since March 2025 twenty-three units in total have been let or are currently under offer. In addition, several long-term vacant properties have recently been brought back to the market after several years.

A property on the main high street in Worksop had not been in active retail use for some time and was not being marketed. On receiving a letter regarding HSRA the unit was promptly brought to market with a local agent who advertised the fit-out grant opportunity with the unit. This has resulted in a local couple opening their first café, supported by the Council’s fit-out grant.

Source: Bassetlaw District Council

The fit-out grant has helped the Council support specific types of businesses underrepresented on the high streets with financial incentives of up to £20k to take on empty premises, whilst providing wrap-around support. One-to-one specialist business support was also provided to existing businesses to help retain those already on the high street and prevent further closures.

Through the Council’s fit-out grant and free high-street business support, an established food and drink business in Worksop has been able to expand and open a sister shop in Retford.

Source: Bassetlaw District Council

The Council’s High Street grant enabled an existing jeweller in Worksop to purchase a new piece of equipment, enabling the shop to offer the latest trend, permanent jewellery. This allowed the retailer to access a new market, cementing their commitment to the town and enabling further growth.

The council’s efforts have been praised by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) as an example of best practice for its work focused on relationship building rather than enforcement, aligning HSRA work with the Council’s wider town centre investment strategy, including the introduction of grants, business support and place marketing work through the ‘Discover’ campaigns.

Next steps

The Council has not managed to engage with all landlords despite informal letters issued, therefore HSRA proceedings have begun with certain property owners falling into the high priority group. Priority setting was aided by a scoring matrix developed for HSRA specifically to identify which of the eligible vacant properties should be targeted first against a bespoke set of criteria. This scoring matrix has been shared with local authorities throughout the country to support their HSRA rollouts.

The Council has now issued four Annex 17 notices to landlords requesting information about their buildings to start progressing to the issuing of first notices. Surveys have also been carried out on two units to understand the level of refurbishment needed to bring those units back into use.