How Councils Are Using Meanwhile Use To Tackle Town Centre Vacancy In 2026
Empty shops remain a persistent problem for councils across the UK. While the picture varies considerably between regions and individual towns, some areas such as Nottinghamshire and North Yorkshire continue to report high street vacancy rates well into double figures. The result is familiar: empty units, inactive frontages, reduced footfall and a growing sense of neglect.
Councils now have a new tool to respond to the problem. In England, High Street Rental Auctions provide new statutory powers to tackle persistently vacant premises, but they can take time and resources to make an impact. Councils also have access to a faster, more collaborative approach: meanwhile use.
For councils and regeneration teams looking for practical ways to address town centre vacancy, meanwhile use provides an opportunity to bring empty commercial property back into productive use while longer-term plans develop.
So, how are councils using it, and how does it compare with the High Street Rental Auction process?
What Meanwhile Use Means For A Council
Meanwhile use is the temporary, purposeful occupation of an empty property while it awaits a permanent tenant, sale, redevelopment or another long-term use. Councils increasingly recognise it as a regeneration and place-making tool. Local authorities and planning bodies have incorporated the principle into their planning and regeneration strategies, recognising that the period between one permanent use and another need not mean a building sitting empty.
The Local Government Association includes meanwhile use and pop-ups among the approaches councils should consider to address vacant shops. Its guidance highlights the potential for temporary uses to create diversity, give organisations that might otherwise struggle to access town-centre property a foothold, and prevent a decline in high streets. For councils, then, meanwhile use is not simply a favour to an occupier. It is a practical intervention that keeps property active and contributes to a wider regeneration strategy while a permanent solution is found.
What Is The Difference Between Meanwhile Use And High Street Rental Auctions
High Street Rental Auctions (HSRAs) and meanwhile use both aim to bring empty commercial property back into productive use. The important difference is how they get there.
HSRAs were introduced under the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, with the powers coming into force in December 2024. They give eligible local authorities in England a statutory route to address the problem of persistently vacant high street premises. A property can meet the vacancy condition where it has been unoccupied for at least a year within a 24-month period. Where the other statutory conditions are met, the process can ultimately result in a lease of between one and five years being auctioned. This is a significant new power for local authorities, but it is necessarily a formal process that comes with significant legal, statutory and administrative burdens.
Progress has consequently been best described as measured. Eleven early-adopter authorities have been working with the powers. Broxtowe Borough Council became the first local authority in England to serve a formal HSRA notice in September 2025. Early experience suggests that the threat of formal HSRA action may itself prompt landlords to act, meaning the auction does not always need to take place.
Where the landlord is willing to cooperate without the threat of formal action hanging over them, there is little need to wait until a property has met the HSRA vacancy threshold. Meanwhile use can be arranged without calling on statutory powers to auction off space. Meanwhile use is a welcome, faster and more flexible collaborative first move.
How Councils Around The UK Arrange Meanwhile Use
There is no single, universal model for meanwhile use. Different local authorities have adapted the approach to suit their local priorities. For example, Brent Council has developed an approved list of meanwhile use projects, providing a structured route for considering temporary use cases. Haringey Council has explicitly linked temporary occupation to wider community outcomes rather than treating occupancy as the only measure of success. Waltham Forest Council has similarly supported non-profit workspace providers where an operator can demonstrate local social, economic and cultural benefits.
These approaches differ, yet they share an important feature. Temporary occupation forms part of wider local authority redevelopment strategies. The Local Government Association reinforces this approach. Its guidance for councils specifically identifies meanwhile use and pop-ups as tools for tackling vacant premises and stresses that action on vacancy should sit within broader town-centre priorities.
Meanwhile use therefore works best when councils ask not simply “How do we fill this shop?”, but “What could this property contribute to the community?”
What Councils Need From Meanwhile Use
Successful meanwhile use requires more than finding someone willing to occupy an empty unit. Councils need confidence that temporary occupiers are genuine, appropriate for the building and capable of delivering the activities they propose. Where charitable or community occupation is involved, this means properly vetted organisations rather than simply the first occupier willing to take the keys. The occupation must also protect the property’s long-term strategy. Clear licence arrangements and notice provisions allow an owner to regain possession when a permanent tenant, sale or redevelopment is ready to proceed.
Councils rarely undertake meanwhile use without measuring the outcome. Local authorities need to demonstrate what their regeneration interventions actually deliver. A meanwhile use partner should therefore be able to report on social value and community benefits. Councils need evidence for internal reporting, committee papers, and wider regeneration objectives.
Together, these requirements turn meanwhile use from an ad hoc property arrangement into a credible part of a council’s regeneration strategy.
How ASTOP Works With Councils
ASTOP helps councils and commercial property owners bring empty buildings back into productive temporary use by placing registered charities and good causes into suitable premises. We identify and vet appropriate occupiers, establish licence-based arrangements with clear notice provisions and manage the occupation throughout. Importantly, the council and landlord pay nothing.
Our model also gives councils something increasingly important: evidence of the wider value created. ASTOP provides formal social value reporting, helping demonstrate how temporary occupation supports charities, communities and local activity alongside the practical benefits of putting vacant property back into use.
The approach has already been demonstrated across commercial property portfolios. At Croxley Park in Watford, for example, ASTOP helped bring vacant space into use by more than 20 charities, turning otherwise empty commercial units into productive spaces for good causes. Councils can see our case studies to explore how temporary charitable occupation works in practice.
ASTOP has extensive experience helping councils explore meanwhile use as part of a town centre strategy. We deliver specific results by matching local authorities, landlords with space, and charities, good causes, and community groups.
Meanwhile Use Will Not Solve Town Centre Vacancy On Its Own
Meanwhile use is not a cure for every struggling high street. It cannot correct an oversupply of commercial space on its own, replace long-term regeneration, or remove the need for High Street Rental Auctions if a landlord does not engage positively with redevelopment plans. However, councils do not have to choose between temporary occupation and longer-term interventions. Meanwhile use gives them something particularly valuable: the ability to act while long-term solutions are still being developed. A vacant shop can support a charity, community organisation or other productive use rather than remaining shuttered. At the same time, the council, landlord or developer retains the flexibility to move ahead when a permanent solution is ready.
For councils facing persistent town centre vacancy, meanwhile use is a practical first option rather than an afterthought. Talk to ASTOP about bringing an empty unit in your town centre back to life.
Meanwhile Use FAQs
What Is Meanwhile Use?
Meanwhile use is the temporary occupation of an empty property while it awaits a permanent tenant, sale, redevelopment or another long-term use. Councils can use it as part of a wider town-centre or regeneration strategy to keep vacant premises active and support community, cultural, charitable or economic activity.
How Is Meanwhile Use Different From A High Street Rental Auction?
Meanwhile use is normally a voluntary arrangement involving a cooperative property owner and temporary occupier. A High Street Rental Auction is a statutory process available to eligible local authorities in England for qualifying persistently vacant high street premises. Meanwhile use can therefore provide an earlier, collaborative intervention, while an HSRA provides additional powers where voluntary action has not resolved long-term vacancy.
Do Councils Pay For Meanwhile Use?
ASTOP provides its services at no cost to the council or landlord. ASTOP identifies and vets suitable registered charities and good causes, manages the licence arrangement and supports the occupation throughout.
Can Meanwhile Use Help Reduce High Street Vacancy?
Yes. Meanwhile use puts vacant properties back into productive use while permanent tenants, sales, or redevelopment plans are pursued.
Can Meanwhile Use Deliver Social Value?
Yes. Selecting appropriate charitable and community occupiers allows vacant property to support activities with identifiable community benefits. Appropriate social value reporting will help councils and property owners evidence the impact created by an occupation.
