High streets set to be revitalised under new legislation

Local leaders will be given the power to revitalise town centres under the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill set to be unveiled in the Queen’s speech tomorrow.

Shops are currently allowed to stand empty for years, making for deserted high streets and a loss of job opportunities.

But new legislation due to come in will allow local governments to force landlords to rent out commercial properties.

Councils will have more power to transform the buildings into whatever will benefit their communities most with businesses, shared community spaces or housing.

Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, said: ‘High streets up and down the country have long been blighted by derelict shopfronts, because they’ve been neglected, stripping opportunity from local areas.

‘We are putting that right by placing power back in the hands of local leaders and the community so our towns can be rejuvenated, levelling up opportunity and restoring neighbourhood pride.’

According to the British Retail Consortium, empty shopfronts have increased to one in seven, reaching as high as one in five in the north east.

The government believes this change will boost employment rates, strengthen local economies and restore local pride.

Levelling Up Secretary, Michael Gove, said: ‘By empowering local communities to rent out shops which have been sat empty for a year or longer, we will end the scourge of boarded up shops that have blighted some of our great towns across the country for far too long.

‘These measures will breathe new life into high streets, transforming once-bustling communities into vibrant places to live and work once again and restoring local pride as we level up across the country.’

Additionally, councils will be given more power to drive regeneration and in a quicker and easier way.

Through Compulsory Purchase Orders local authorities will be able to acquire buildings, without the consent of the owners, for public benefit, including land for social housing and regeneration projects.

This power has been used by Banstead and Reigate council already, as an old car park was used to create a new cinema, shops, leisure facilities and housing in Redhill’s town centre.

Photo by Scott Webb