The investment includes a new £125m Derelict Buildings Fund to help local authorities transform empty shopping centres, former cinemas and other long-vacant properties into commercial and community assets.
The programme is designed to tackle the decline of town centres, where boarded-up units and disused buildings have become increasingly common, while supporting local economic growth and job creation. A further £65m will be used to help communities acquire and revitalise local assets at risk of closure, including pubs, sports clubs and other community venues.
The funding could create new opportunities for hospitality operators in town centres through the redevelopment of vacant premises and support for community venues facing closure, while improving trading areas for existing tenants.
“People don’t measure growth by looking at a spreadsheet,” says Prime Minister Andy Burnham. “They measure it by looking at their local high street. Too many high streets have been left to hollow out, leaving town centres a shell of what they once were.”
The announcement forms part of a wider regeneration programme, the government’s Place Regeneration Taskforce.
Ministers have pledged to publish a broader High Streets Strategy later this year, setting out longer-term plans for town centre renewal across England.