Government to give high streets £150m support package
The Government has announced a multimillion pound support package for declining high streets, targeting areas which have been hit the hardest in recent years.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government said that the £150m injection will look to support high streets with boarded-up shop fronts, and those that lack essential retailers such as butchers, grocers, and bakeries.
It is hoped that this package will help turn the tide on this decline and restore a sense of pride within communities. The funding will be used to support local, independent businesses, improve neglected shopfronts and open up empty units.
This marks the first step in the Government’s upcoming High Streets Strategy, announced in January.
Steve Reed, communities secretary, said: “Our high streets are the beating heart of Britain — where communities come together and local businesses can grow.
“Town centres have suffered from high streets falling into decline, and that is why we’re taking action to turn the tide with this crucial investment and more to come.
“We have listened to what people are telling us and that’s why we’re giving them the power and control to breathe new life back into our high streets and restore the sense of pride communities feel, building on our transformational Pride in Place programme.”
Other steps already taken by the Government to regenerate high streets include a new right to buy for community assets such as pubs, the ending of ‘pub deserts’ by banning the loss of the last community facility in an area, and greater action to tackle the proliferation of betting shops on high streets.