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Section 193: Vacancy condition

Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 · 2023 c. 55View on legislation.gov.uk

Part 10: Letting by local authorities of vacant high-street premises

For the purposes of this Part, the "vacancy condition" is satisfied in relation to premises on a given day if—

the premises are unoccupied on that day, and
either—
the premises were unoccupied for the whole of the period of one year ending with the previous day, or
during the period of two years ending with the previous day, the premises were unoccupied on at least 366 days.

For the purposes of subsection (1), premises are occupied on a day during which they begin or cease to be occupied.

Days before the day on which this section comes into force are to count for the purposes of subsection (1)(b).

Occupation by a person living in premises that are not designed or adapted for residential use is not to count as occupation for the purposes of this section.

Regulations may amend this section so as to alter the circumstances in which the "vacancy condition" is satisfied in relation to premises.

Those circumstances must relate to the time during which premises are or have been unoccupied.

A state of affairs does not amount to the occupation of premises for the purposes of this section unless it involves the use of the premises for activity that—

is substantial,
is sustained, and
involves the regular presence of people at the premises.

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.