How a social impact agreement could revive your high street units
7th December 2022 Finding impactful local occupiers for your high street buildings is a powerful way to reduce vacancies and meet your ESG objectives. Why? Local businesses and community enterprises are rooted in their places, and emerge from understanding local needs. Across the UK, from Oxfordshire to Belfast, they’re filling town centre spaces with innovative, sustainable activities that increase footfall and vibrancy, and deliver long-term social impact. These activities range from retail to affordable housing, to repair shops, to music venues, to urban farms, to coworking spaces, to community kitchens and more. Often these groups, who are commonly called socially-trading organisations (STOs), need an initial leg up. On the one hand, they typically have strong local networks and knowledge and the entrepreneurial nous to successfully activate town centre property. On the other hand, they often lack seed funding or upfront resources to access units under traditional lease terms. There’s a solution: offering a social impact agreement – whether a lease or a license to occupy – that unlocks your units for STOs on supportive terms. This removes that first crucial barrier of access to space, so STOs can execute their ideas and start creating long-term local value, with the opportunity to scale commercially. […]