High Streets Regeneration

Naushabah Khan (Gillingham and Rainham) (Lab), Patrick Hurley (Southport) (Lab), Lauren Edwards (Rochester and Strood) (Lab), and Lee Pitcher (Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme) (Lab) all asked the Minister what steps the Government plans to take to help regenerate high streets. In response, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Alex Norris, stated that the Government is committed to supporting businesses and communities to make high streets flourish. He mentioned that they are funding new partnership models with high street accelerators, implementing high street rental auctions, and introducing a strong new right to buy for community assets to empower local communities to rejuvenate high streets and address the blight of vacant premises. Naushabah Khan followed up, asking the Minister to meet with her to discuss the challenges facing Gillingham High Street in her constituency, as well as the possibility of a compulsory register of properties on high streets, so that councils can engage with owners to find new uses for vacant premises. The Minister agreed to the meeting and acknowledged the importance of ensuring local authorities and communities have the tools they need to support high streets. Patrick Hurley raised the issue of the tax regime disincentivizing the regeneration and refurbishment of town centres, and asked what the Minister can do to incentivize the private sector to invest in town centres and high streets. The Minister responded by acknowledging the Government's commitment to a fairer business rate system and stated that they will continue to consider how they can further support high streets, while also empowering communities through new powers such as rental auctions and the right to buy community assets. Lauren Edwards discussed the importance of encouraging footfall by supporting local communities to hold events in town centres, and asked the Minister to meet with her to discuss learnings from her experience as a cabinet member on Medway Council and what an improved UK shared prosperity fund could look like under the current Government. The Minister expressed his interest in understanding more about the Medway experience and stated that decisions on funding beyond March 2025 will be a matter for the Budget. Lee Pitcher raised the issue of vacant shop premises in his constituency and asked how the Government intends to stop the buying up of such outlets and deal with the lack of urgency in reopening them. The Minister responded by highlighting the Government's plans to introduce high street rental auctions, which will give councils powers to require landlords to bring vacant commercial properties back into use for their original purpose. Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con) and Kevin Hollinrake (Thirsk and Malton) (Con) also intervened, with Morton asking about additional resources for councils and Hollinrake raising the issue of the lack of banking facilities in some high street towns.