Local communities will receive direct funding to restore and reuse vacant high-street properties after Prime Minister Andy Burnham unveiled a £210 million package aimed at regenerating towns across the UK.
The package breaks down into targeted pots. A £125 million derelict buildings fund is intended to repair mothballed and dilapidated properties, while an £85 million reserve is designed to help communities take over neglected spaces such as pubs, clubs and shops. Officials said a further £65 million will be available to rescue businesses and buildings at risk of closure, and £20 million will support co-operative enterprises and enable communities to lease empty units.
Burnham framed the cash as a visible measure of change in places that feel left behind. He 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?" He added the funding would return power to local people who know their areas best.
Communities Secretary Angela Rayner said the plan would turn "boarded-up buildings that have been left to rack and ruin into places people are proud to visit again." First Secretary of State Louise Haigh described the cash as an example of devolution in practice and said the investment would give residents the resources they need to make change.
The announcement comes ahead of Burnham's first Labour Party conference as prime minister. He is expected to make the spending and local growth central to an argument about affordability and town recovery at the Liverpool meeting this weekend. The package follows a summer pledge to introduce 20% cuts to business rates for pubs, clubs and social venues from April.
Not all reaction was positive. Peter Kyle, described in party materials as having served as business secretary to former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, said Burnham needs to act with "more urgency" to lift growth. The Conservatives set out an alternative programme that would abolish business rates for thousands of small firms, and said it would "defend key pillars of the community such as post offices, pubs and pharmacies." Burnham will bring the new funding plans to Liverpool, where they are likely to feature in his wider economic pitch.
