Derelict high street buildings will be transformed into shared workspaces, cafes and community hubs, to bring people back into town centres as part of a £210m package.
People are proud of where they live, but too many have watched their high streets be hollowed out, with shops shuttered, buildings boarded up and once-busy hubs left empty.
Now the government is putting that right, by revamping vacant shopping centres, disused cinemas and abandoned local eyesores.
Through the new £125m Derelict Buildings Fund, government will support local authorities to transform these buildings into what their communities need, from health centres to civic spaces.
An additional £65m will be invested in helping communities right across England rescue and revamp beloved buildings and businesses at risk of closure, like pubs and sports clubs. This builds on existing schemes like the Pride in Place programme, which has helped locals take over the youth centre in Ramsgate and redevelop the former Brunswick Shopping Centre in Scarborough.
And a further £20 million will be split equally between High Street Rental Auctions, letting out properties vacant for 12 months or more, and a new Co-operative Development Programme so local people share in their high street’s success.
This drives forward the Prime Minister’s mission to shift power back to communities, from letting mayors keep a share of income tax to reinvest in local priorities, to supporting the establishment of strategic authorities in every part of England.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “People don’t measure growth by looking at a spreadsheet. They measure it by looking at their local high street. Are shops opening or are the shutters down? Does the place feel like it’s moving forward or being left behind?
“The truth is that too many high streets have been left to hollow out, leaving town centres a shell of what they once were. That must change, and today’s funding will help put power back into the hands of locals who know their area best.
“That’s how we restore pride and bring hope back. Not by telling people things are getting better, but by giving them the power to see and feel the difference where they live.”
Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner, said: “Nobody knows a high street better than the community that it belongs to. That’s why this money puts power directly into their hands.
“We’ll see boarded-up buildings that have been left to rack and ruin turned into places people are proud to visit again, the pubs and clubs that mean so much to them thriving once more, and local businesses growing and creating jobs that put money back into their own community.
“That’s what this government is about. Backing the people who know their communities best, and giving them the tools to shape their own future and breathe new life into their high streets.”
First Secretary of State, Louise Haigh said: “For too long, places in every part of the country have been overlooked by Westminster. High streets neglected, town centres left in decline and local assets left to decay.
“This investment will help to regenerate and breathe new life into our communities - giving local people the resources and powers they need to make a real change.
“This is what devolution means in practice - empowering local leaders to fix things that are broken and protect the things that matter most to people.
“This is what a rewired state looks like: a Government focused on delivering for the people of the country and empowering communities in the hands of the people who live in them.”
The £10 million regional Co-operative Development Programme will help mayors and strategic authorities set up more co-operative businesses, owned and run by the staff, customers and communities who use them, so local people share directly in their high street’s success.
Work forms part of a broader programme coordinated through the Place Regeneration taskforce, spearheaded by the First Secretary of State along with departments, ministers and local government to deliver a roadmap to rebuild Britain. This work will regenerate communities, breathe new life into our high streets and deliver maximum benefit to the people who live there.
Later this year, the government will go further still, publishing a full high streets strategy to transform town centres across England and bring lasting pride back to Britain’s communities.
The £210m package confirmed today is from MHCLG funding already earmarked for high street support and regeneration.
