CAMRA has said the government’s impending High Street Rental Auctions plan “will lessen opportunities for pubs”.

The plan was first broached back in 2022 and will come into effect in September.

CAMRA’s pub and club campaigns director Gary Timmins said: “Much of this is a disappointing step backwards for high street pubs. 

“Campaigning to see vacant pubs brought back into use is one of CAMRA’s core objectives and the proposals for High Street Rental Auctions had the potential to be a really positive move, particularly the focus on community uses.

“We know that pubs can increase and expand footfall on the high street, and we hoped government understood this too.

“However, it was vital that pubs kept their planning protection under the scheme. CAMRA called on government to ensure that pubs that became part of the High Street Rental Auction scheme weren’t gutted of their fittings ahead of bids for the premises, and this recommendation hasn’t been taken forward leaving developers a clear path to permanently convert these venues.

“The recent Crooked House scandal has exposed just how far some are willing to go for a shot at redeveloping pubs, and that current planning protections for pubs simply aren’t fit for purpose.

“High Street Rental Auctions could have been a chance for government to take a fresh approach and affirm its support for pubs. Instead, its response to this consultation is looking like yet another missed opportunity.

“I am pleased to see provision for local authorities to set the uses for which bids will be permitted, and that pubs are specifically given as a case where this would be appropriate.

“I urge the trailblazer authorities that will trial High Street Rental Auctions to make use of this provision, to protect high street pubs from unscrupulous redevelopment.”

Find more information about High Street Rental Auctions and how pubs can be affected here: https://www1.camra.org.uk/take-action/high-street-rental-auctions