Kaya Chatterji from Islington Council and Councillor James Potts on Caledonian Road

VACANT shops on the Caledonian Road could be seized and re-purposed by the Town Hall as part of a new project aiming to “breathe life back into the high street”, writes Finn Logue.

High Street Rental Auction (HSRA) powers, introduced by the Labour government in 2024, give councils the option to step in and hold auctions for properties that have been vacant for over a year, failing co-operation from the landlord.

The Tribune’s sister paper, the Camden New Journal, has been exploring a new series called ‘Wasted London’, investigating the causes behind a citywide crisis of unused land, both residential and commercial.

A suggestion to reverse the tide of vacant properties and shuttered-up shops is for local authorities to trial HSRA powers.

Along The Cally, roughly 18 per cent of shop units are vacant, the highest rate of any town centre in Islington.

This is why the Town Hall will trial the use of HSRA powers, before aiming to roll out the policy over the whole borough if it proves successful.

Islington hopes that the ability to wield these new powers will act as an incentive to landlords, motivating them to source new tenants.

Across other local authorities that have trialled it, such as Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire, vacancy rates have plummeted without the council even having to intervene.

Speaking to the Tribune, Islington’s planning chief Cllr James Potts said: “This power is a bit of a stick in theory, one that we don’t want to use. But it does give us the power to go to landlords and basically try and get these unused shops into usage.”

It will give the council the opportunity to engage with landlords first, before opening up a lease to prospective tenants at a discounted rate if they do not co-operate.

He added: “If we’re having good dialogue with these landlords, then we might not necessarily even need to go down this route.

“We hope it is the case that they will co-operate, and we can bring these shops into usage over the next few months without having to even use the power.”

If Islington were to intervene and take the lease from a landlord, a list of prospective businesses known to the council would be considered to fill the space and “trial their business” on the high street.

So how will the council ensure that these don’t just become vape shops or new gambling venues?

“There has to be a social value element to whatever we introduce into these shops,” Cllr Potts said.

“We are given a bit of a say that allows us to prevent it from becoming a vape shop or another bookie. Having that say allows us to make sure we don’t get businesses that might be a bit more troublesome.”

Kaya Chatterji, head of Local Economies who is leading on the project, said there had been a high turnout in responses, with the vast majority of residents showing support for the project.

She added: “What residents have told us is that they want independent stores, so bookshops and florists. But also community use space, such as rehearsal spaces or yoga studios.

“The type of usage that encourage social and community interaction and cohesion.”

Islington is in the first stages of the trial, and will evaluate whether to roll it out over the entire borough next year.