Mansfield council plans to force landlords to rent empty shops

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 11 Oct, 09:19 · Archive

Mansfield District Council has signed up to a government scheme forcing landlords to auction off town centre properties vacant for over a year.

Mansfield District Council has signed up to the government's High Street Rental Auction (HSRA) scheme to tackle empty shops in its town centre. The scheme, introduced nationally in late 2024, allows local authorities to force landlords to rent out or auction properties that have been vacant for more than a year. The council began its consultation period on 28 September, with the scheme set to start on 26 October for designated areas.

Mansfield's high street was found to be among the worst in the county for empty shops, according to data compiled by the Local Democracy Reporting Service. When reporters visited in August, shoppers described the town centre as 'terrible', with one saying she 'wouldn't recommend it to anybody' and another noting 'there's hardly anything here'.

Mansfield mayor Andy Abrahams said: 'For far too long, we've had properties on our high streets that have been blighting the town centre and holding our town back. Either use it or lose it. We're going to bring these properties back into functioning and helping the town centre.' The government introduced the scheme after statistics showed that one in seven shops were empty nationwide.

How it is being reported

• Use it or lose it - 'Lazy' landlords set to be forced to rent out empty shops in bid to improve Mansfield town centreLazy landlords could be forced to rent out empty shops in a bid to improve Mansfield’s struggling town centre.Mansfield Chad · 11 Oct, 08:45
• Mansfield landlords could be forced to rent out empty shops to improve ‘terrible’ town centreIf no tenant is found within 12 weeks, the council would auction off the property to biddersNottinghamshire Live · 9 Oct, 15:05

In this story: Mansfield District Council · Mansfield · Andy Abrahams

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