The new law will affect vacant premises which are deemed as having a high-street use and as qualifying high-street premises. ‘High-street use’ includes any premises whose use is, or was when last occupied, as:
<ul>
 	<li>a shop or office;</li>
 	<li>providing services to persons who include visiting members of the public;</li>
 	<li>a restaurant, bar, public house, café, or other establishment selling food or drink;</li>
 	<li>for public entertainment or recreation;</li>
 	<li>a communal hall or meeting-place; or</li>
 	<li>manufacturing or other industrial processes of a sort that can reasonably be carried on alongside one of the above uses (but not as a warehouse).</li>
</ul>
A premises will form a ‘qualifying high-street premises’ if:
<ul>
 	<li>they are situated on a designated high street or in a designated town centre, and</li>
 	<li>the local authority considers them to be suitable for a high-street use.</li>
</ul>
Once a detailed auction process has taken place, the local authority will have power to enter into an agreement for a lease which will be binding on the owner and any superior landlord. There are various key terms for the agreement for lease and lease which will be prescribed by the Regulations. If the landlord ends up defaulting on the agreement, then the local authority can grant the lease directly to the tenant.