Greens promise 'affordable' leases to help High Streets

The Green Party of England and Wales is pledging to create "affordable" leases for local businesses, as part of its plan to revive high streets.

The party has set out a blueprint it says will help revive high streets in any councils where it wins control at May's local elections in England.

The party says any 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 shops would be leased to small businesses at rates deemed affordable by the council, the party says.

The plan also involves giving residents a say in shaping their high streets through citizen assemblies, which involve bringing groups of people together to debate public policy issues and make recommendations.

Green leader Zack Polanski announced the plan in Manchester alongside Hannah Spencer, who was recently elected as an MP for the party in Gorton and Denton.

Polanski said his party's councillors would "use the powers local authorities have" to buy "empty and derelict properties and get our high streets thriving again".

"Our three-step plan will keep wealth in the very communities that generate it and make high streets places that reflect local priorities," Polanski said.

Compulsory purchase orders are seen as a last-resort option by councils because of high costs, significant legal risks, and the need for specialised expertise.

Successive governments have urged councils to make use of the orders as a mechanism to revitalise high streets.

But 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 Green Party has not specified what it deems to an "affordable" lease on a shop bought under a compulsory purchase order.

The Greens are also calling on the government to give councils the power to control rents for small businesses, to prevent landlords from hiking up prices and driving out independent retailers.

Councils in England currently have no such powers over private sector rents, and cannot restrict landlords raising them in line with market prices.

High streets have been in long-term decline, with changing consumer habits and the shift to online shopping driving the closure of retail businesses.

In 2024, a total of 12,804 shops and outlets left UK high streets, shopping centres and retail parks, compared to 9,002 openings, according to a report by PwC, a consultancy.

The state of high streets has become a more prominent political issue in recent years, with parties suggesting different policies to support shops.

Last year, the Labour government set out plans to hand communities "new powers to seize boarded-up shops".

The 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, up to an annual limit of £110,000 per year.

The party has also outlined proposals it says would cut electricity bills for businesses, and has promised to hire an extra 10,000 police officers to tackle crime on high streets.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a temporary cut in VAT from 20% to 15% for hospitality, visitor accommodation, and attractions, as well as a new business levy to shift the tax burden from tenants to commercial landowners.

Reform UK says "sky-high business rates and parking charges imposed by local authorities that don't understand business are crippling the great British high street".

The party says it would abolish business rates for all pubs, and is planning to set out more proposals to boost high streets in due course.