Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of empowering local authorities to penalise landlords of commercial properties that are left vacant for lengthy periods of time.

Vacant properties are not in the interest of tenants, landlords or communities. That is why at Autumn Budget 2018, as part of Our Plan for the High Street, we committed to piloting a register of empty commercial properties and supporting communities to make use of empty properties as part of broad plans for the regeneration of our high streets and town centres. The Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee’s inquiry into High Streets and Town Centres in 2030, made a recommendation to review existing policy on vacant commercial properties. The Government is considering the recommendation and will publish our response to the Select Committee in due course.