Frustration has been vented over neglected vacant shops in a busy area of Reading.
Christchurch Green is located in the university area and has a parade building home to a number of shops and takeaways, including Greggs and Domino’s.
But two stores in the parade have been vacant for years.
The RedServe Heating building has been closed since the mid-2000s, and is therefore coming up on 20 years of being vacant.
Meanwhile, NatWest has also been closed for a number of years as well.
While there was a plan to turn the Redserve building into a cafe called ‘Coffee Corner ‘, consent for its conversion expired last year.
Councillor Will Cross (Labour, Redlands), who represents the area, asked what could be done to improve the situation at a full meeting of Reading Borough Council on June 30.
He said: “Local residents, including the Friends of Christchurch Green, have raised concerns about the long-term empty retail units in the Christchurch Road parade of shops, namely the former RedServe and NatWest units.
“These premises have been unoccupied for some years, and are causing a detriment to the local street scene, including graffiti, fly-posting, and general neglect.”
Cllr Cross then mentioned High Street Rental Auction powers, which allow English councils to compel landlords to rent out commercial properties that have been continuously vacant for over a year.
He therefore asked for an update on the current status of these auction powers and whether the council could use them, whether they could be used to deal with the vacant units on Christchurch Road; and what alternative informal or formal enforcement steps council officers could take to deal with the state of the buildings in the meantime.
The question was answered by Micky Leng (Labour, Whitley), lead councillor for planning.
He mentioned that High Street Rental Auction powers were implemented in December 2024 and around 60 properties in the country have been recouped.
To qualify, the properties have to be in a designated high street or town centre area, be vacant for a year, be suitable for town centre use, and would benefit from reoccupation.
But the council would need to set up an auction programme from its existing planning and legal services team, which it does not currently have the capacity to create.
Cllr Leng said: “In principle, the powers could apply to long-term vacant commercial units such as those on Christchurch Road, subject to meeting statutory criteria around vacancy and location.
“However, given the current position outlined above, these powers are not being actively pursued at this time.
“In the meantime, the council is actively pursuing proportionate enforcement action to address the condition of the properties.
“Planning Enforcement officers have recently undertaken site visits and assessed both properties under Section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, which enables the council to require landowners to remedy conditions that adversely affect the amenity of an area.
“For the former NatWest, officers have issued a ‘minor works’ letter requesting that the owner undertake basic improvements to the property.
“For the former RedServe, officers have issued a ‘full appraisal’ letter. Should there be no satisfactory response or improvement, the council will consider progressing to a formal Section 215 notice, which can require works within a specified timeframe and may lead to prosecution or works in default if not complied with.”
