Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of opportunity for local small and medium size enterprises to engage in high street auctions to occupy empty high street units.

High Street Rental Auctions will seek to increase cooperation between Landlords to make town centre tenancies more accessible and affordable for tenants, including SMEs and community groups

Rental rates reflecting market value achieved through auction will allow a broad spectrum of tenants to occupy town centre properties. In turn this will increase vitality, footfall, pride in place and business growth and encourage diverse mixed-use high streets

We are continuing our engagement with the sector, including with SME representatives, to ensure the process is accessible for all parties and plan to publish further guidance.