Green Party Proposes Using Compulsory Purchases to Revive England's Empty Shops and High Streets

The Green Party of England and Wales has set out a plan involving the forced sale of long-term empty shops in England to revive high streets, BBC News reported. The party is pledging to create affordable leases for local businesses as part of this initiative. Green-run councils would make use of compulsory purchase orders to bring long-term empty shops back into public use.

Once in public ownership, these empty shops would be leased to small businesses at rates deemed affordable by the council. The blueprint is designed to help revive high streets in councils where the party wins control at May's local elections in England. The plan also involves giving residents a say in shaping their high streets through citizen assemblies.

A party leader announced the plan alongside a recently elected MP. The party leader stated that the party's councillors would use the powers local authorities have to buy empty and derelict properties and get high streets thriving again. Last year, the Local Government Association said councils had highlighted that compulsory purchase orders require considerable resources to be of any significant use in facilitating town centre regeneration.

The Greens are calling on the government to give councils the power to control rents for small businesses. Councils in England currently have no powers over private sector rents and cannot restrict landlords raising them in line with market prices. Last year, the Labour government set out plans to hand communities new powers to seize boarded-up shops.

The Labour government's plans included an expansion of compulsory purchase orders and giving councils the power to block shops such as vape stores. The Conservative Party's high streets plan focuses on scrapping business rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses.