What consideration has the Welsh Government given to introducing legislation to enable local authorities to hold rental auctions on empty shops if they have been empty more than six months, as is being done by the UK government?
The Member refers to a proposal the UK Government has included in its Levelling Up White Paper, the detail of which is not clear, and the legislative process is yet to commence.
The proposal might try to deal with landlords which are holding out for unrealistic rents, but equally the proposed rental auctions could result in downward pressure on rental values, making the retail asset less attractive as an investment with the potential unintended consequence of some private sector landlords withdrawing from the market.
Without the detail it is not possible to give this any further consideration.
In Wales we have been working with our local authority partners for some time to regenerate town centres through our Transforming Towns programme - investing over £230million into the sustainable growth of towns and their transformation into places of living, learning, leisure and work.
We have made £15.2 million available to local authorities to help tackle empty and dilapidated buildings in town centres through enforcement. We have, so far, provided nearly £68 million Transforming Towns Loan funding across Wales to enable local authorities to bring vacant and underutilised buildings in town centres back into use. We are committed to removing barriers to the use of compulsory purchase powers by improving confidence and understanding along with clarifying the compulsory purchase process. Finally, the non-domestic rates Empty Property Rates Relief scheme supports bringing properties back into use.