The authority plans to adopt the power to sell off leases on retail units which have lain empty for a year or more
A council is set to be one of the first in the country to be able to auction off leases on retail units which have lain empty for a year or more.
Rugby Borough Council is planning to adopt powers available to it to auction off leases on privately-owned retail units left vacant in the town centre.
The move comes after the council reported in June that nearly one in four units in the town are empty, compared to the national average of one in seven.
The authority's Labour leader Michael Moran said: "Subject to confirmation we will be one of the first to adopt this, if not the first, so we are at the cutting edge."
Moran said there was "huge technical detail to this but what it amounts to is a legislative hammer to effectively attack empty properties and redundant shops".
"If we do all this work and it brings forward even a handful of shops then it will be worth doing because it shows the intent as much as anything else," he added.
The council's cabinet granted permission for acting chief executive Dan Green to proceed with adopting the scheme, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
The powers would apply to units left unused for a year or more across a two-year period, opening them up to a bidding process led by the council.
Landlords have an eight-week grace period to find a suitable alternative tenant and can issue counter notices or appeal the decision but, if it progresses as far as the auction process, bids will be invited and assessed by the authority.
The council has established a vacancy register, with a view to accessing chunks of up to £75,000 per unit from a £1.5m government fund to bring premises up to scratch where necessary.
The report to the cabinet read: "Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) officers have advised the council that [it] has made significant progress, such that we are ahead of other councils and in a strong position regarding access to the improvement grants."
Isabelle McKenzie, the deputy leader of the council's Liberal Democrat group, supported the move, saying residents would often complain they were fed up with empty shops in the town centre.
"I am relieved that we finally have some teeth to fight back and actually force buildings back into use and stop them being derelict," she added.
Conservative councillor Simon Ward said: "It is good to see this coming forward, the town needs support like this."
Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2025 3:34 am