Rugby Revitalised

Programme

High Street Rental Auctions

Long-term empty buildings can affect how people feel about the town centre.

They can make streets feel less active, reduce opportunities for new businesses and hold back confidence in important locations. Rugby Borough Council is using High Street Rental Auction powers to help bring vacant commercial properties back into use.

High Street Rental Auctions allow councils to intervene where eligible commercial properties have been empty for a long period and are not being actively let. Through the process, buildings can be offered to new occupiers on shorter leases, helping to bring activity back to town centre streets.

The Council has already secured £221,625 of government funding to support refurbishment works at the former TSB building at 26–27 Sheep Street. The building has been empty since 2018 and also fronts onto Drury Lane.

The funding will help bring the building up to a lettable standard ahead of a future auction. Once refurbished, the aim is to attract a new occupier and return the property to productive use.

This is one example of how the Council is using new powers and external funding to tackle vacant buildings and support the wider regeneration of the town centre.

Further updates will be shared as the refurbishment and auction process moves forward.

Find out more about High Street Rental Auctions rugby.gov.uk

High Street Rental Auction success stories

  • Lorimer

    An empty shop with a grey shopfront and frosted windows.
    Before
    The Lorimer art gallery with a teal painted shopfront.
    After
    Visitors looking at paintings and sculpture inside the Lorimer gallery.
    After

  • Prezzo

    The former Prezzo restaurant with a dark shopfront and closed frontage.
    Before
    The reopened restaurant with a bright blue shopfront and Prezzo Italian sign.
    After

  • The Mayuri Indian Restaurant and Bar

    The empty ground-floor unit, with a glazed shopfront and cars parked outside.
    Before
    The Mayuri restaurant, with a green peacock sign above a glazed frontage.
    After

  • Former TSB building

    26–27 Sheep Street, Rugby

    Refurbishment is being supported by £221,625 of government funding, ahead of a future auction.

    The empty former TSB building on Sheep Street, a three-storey brick building with a blue shopfront.
    Before: front
    The rear of the building on Drury Lane, a plain rendered wall with a blue door.
    Before: back
    How Sheep Street could look, with people walking past the refurbished building.
    After (envisaged)
    How Drury Lane could look, with brick buildings and street art.
    After (envisaged)

Other programmes

For more information on our work to regenerate Rugby town centre, please contact the Major Projects and Regeneration Team.

Contact the team