Cumbria council to auction leases on long-empty shops

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 9 Nov, 16:27 · Archive

Westmorland and Furness Council will decide whether to introduce High Street Rental Auctions (HSRAs) across four South Cumbrian town centres: Barrow, Kendal, Penrith and Ulverston. The council chair will present the plans at a cabinet meeting on 11 November.

The new powers, provided under the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, would allow the council to auction the leases of qualifying commercial properties that have been empty for over a year. Properties must either have been vacant for more than a year, or for at least 366 days over the previous two years. After a statutory notice process, leases would typically last between one and five years and could be used for shops, cafés, offices, community facilities, leisure or services. Landlords would keep ownership of their properties.

Vacancy rates across the four pilot towns vary considerably. Barrow has the highest rate at 25.1 per cent in 2026, followed by Kendal at 18.1 per cent, Ulverston at 15.1 per cent and Penrith at 13.1 per cent. Some other towns in the region have seen vacancy rates rise sharply: Bowness increased from 4.6 per cent in 2022 to 16.2 per cent in 2026, and Ambleside rose from 3.4 per cent to 11.5 per cent over the same period.

The proposed Kendal area has been expanded following consultation to include Kirkland and further parts of Highgate and Stramongate. Finkle Street and units in Westmorland Shopping Centre are already included. K Village would remain outside the pilot, with the council saying it will work with the landlord and commercial agent to understand barriers and opportunities there.

The council says it would use auctions as a backstop where voluntary solutions have not worked. Officers are compiling vacancy registers for the proposed areas to identify eligible properties and engage with owners. The council has stated that it will initially focus on the four locations to 'manage resources effectively' but could expand to other towns such as Bowness and Ambleside in future.

How it is being reported

• Auctions on the cards as South Cumbrian towns see empty shops triple in 5 yearsWestmorland and Furness Council proposes plans to auction empty shops in Barrow, Kendal, Penrith and Ulverston on November 11.NW Evening Mail · 9 Nov, 16:00
• Auctions on the cards as South Cumbrian towns see empty shops triple in 5 yearsWestmorland and Furness Council proposes plans to auction empty shops in Barrow, Kendal, Penrith and Ulverston on November 11.News & Star · 9 Nov, 16:00
• More Kendal streets could face auctions for long-empty shop leasesWestmorland and Furness Council to consider expanding Kendal’s High Street Rental Auction pilot for empty shops as part of a four-town Cumbria scheme on November 10.Westmorland Gazette · 9 Nov, 13:30

In this story: Westmorland and Furness Council · Kendal · Barrow · Penrith · Ulverston · Jonathan Brook

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log