The Brownfield Land Release Fund
To what extent does this early initiative of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities deliver on the ‘levelling up’ agenda? Lawrence Turner reports.
Labour promises to scrap business rates
27/09/2021 Labour has announced that it plans to scrap business rates to make the taxation system fairer and to help revive the high street after the pandemic. |
Al fresco dining in Westminster set to continue post-lockdown
17/09/2021 Westminster City Council has decided to continue supporting a number of outdoor dining schemes after a positive response to al fresco dining from locals. |
Welsh councils must provide ‘ambitious leadership’ to revive high street
02/09/2021 Local authorities in Wales have been urged to use their existing powers and resources to make town centres sustainable. |
Business rates system 'discourages shift to net zero'
31/08/2021 Small firms have written to the Government warning that the business rates system is a disincentive to invest in net zero and employee wellbeing measures. |
Council’s deputy leader resigns over spiralling Marble Arch Mound costs
13/08/2021 Westminster City Council’s deputy leader has resigned as the cost of the Marble Arch Mound almost doubles. |
Retailers tell Government to fix ‘broken’ business rates system
10/08/2021 Retailers have urged the Government to reform the business rates system as part of the effort to help high streets recover from the pandemic. |
Planning reforms 80% of shops on high streets could be lost
02/08/2021 New research has warned 80% of shops and other commercial premises on high streets across England could be lost under the expansion of permitted development rights. |
Small businesses took on five times more debt during pandemic
16/07/2021 Independent businesses offer placemakers an opportunity to create a unique experience but need the support of central and local government, report says. |
Report outlines ‘innovative strategies’ for reviving town centres
16/07/2021 A new report has identified the ‘innovative strategies’ northern towns can draw on in order to revive struggling town centres. |
Al fresco dining to boost high street recover
16/07/2021 The Government has announced plans to make al fresco dining easier to help pubs, restaurants and cafes on the high street recover after the pandemic. |
High street regeneration to be key part of PM's levelling up agenda
12/07/2021 The Prime Minister will set out his 'levelling up' plans later this week, including unveiling a new High Streets Strategy. |
High streets: The heartbeats of our towns
28/06/2021 Tim Byles explores why a successful high street today may look a lot like the high street of the 1920s. |
Report calls for greater council powers to protect future of high street
26/05/2021 Councils and local communities should be given more power to decide the future of their high streets, a new report has argued today. |
A further 57 high streets chosen for £830m funding boost
19/05/2021 The Prime Minister has announced 57 high streets in England will share over £830m to help them reopen and recover from the pandemic. |
Scrap permitted development rights, council chiefs say
17/05/2021 Office blocks left empty following the pandemic risk being turned into substandard housing because of permitted development rights (PDRs), council chiefs say. |
Chelmsford sees largest increase in footfall since easing of lockdown
21/04/2021 Chelmsford has seen the largest increase in footfall since non-essential stores opened earlier this month, but Exeter is where people are going into shops. |
Controversial planning laws threaten to do ‘more harm than good’
31/03/2021 New planning laws coming into force today will allow commercial premises to be converted into homes without requiring a full planning application. |
'Welcome back' fund launched for high streets and coastal areas
22/03/2021 Councils will receive £56m to help high streets and seaside resorts open safely this summer. |
Budget 2021: Sunak freezes VAT rate to support hospitality and tourism
03/03/2021 Support for hospitality and tourism businesses was underpinned in the Budget by a freezing of the current 5% rate of VAT for another six months until the end of September. |
Labour calls for council powers to intervene in high streets
25/02/2021 Proposals for councils to take over empty shops and a ‘wholesale reform’ of business rates have been put forward by Labour. |
What do we want our high streets to look like next Christmas?
05/01/2021 Vidhya Alakeson argues that community businesses provide a tremendous opportunity to create vibrant and resilient high streets and communities. |
Jenrick announces £830m high street investment
04/01/2021 The Government has announced that millions of pounds of funding will be invested in 72 areas across England as part of the effort to help high streets recover from the impact of the pandemic. |
Shops to open longer in run up to Christmas
01/12/2020 Retailers will be able to extend their daily opening hours from Monday to Saturday in the run up to Christmas and through January, the communities secretary has announced. |
Councils urged to provide free parking over the Christmas period
30/11/2020 Town hall chiefs have rejected calls that all local councils should provide free town centre parking over the festive period. |
Community ownership is key to revival of high street, says report
01/10/2020 Councils have been urged to help local communities take ownership of empty buildings in order to secure the future of Britain’s high streets. |
Open for business
23/09/2020 Andrew Knowles and Leena Gillespie explain how local authorities can reshape the future of Britain’s challenged high street. |
Government should provide £500m arts resilience fund, says study
08/09/2020 The Government should devolve power over arts funding to councils and make a resilience fund available to support art and culture in local areas, report says. |
Turn high street shops into new homes, urges report
22/07/2020 The Government should stop trying to slow the ‘inevitable’ decline of the high street and instead embrace new ways of saving urban centres, a new paper has argued. |
Government announces measures to prevent company evictions
19/06/2020 The Government has extended measures to prevent struggling companies from eviction over the summer until the end of September. |
New £50m fund to help councils open high streets safely
26/05/2020 Councils will have access to a £50m fund to help prepare for the safe reopening of high streets and other retail spaces. |
A tipping point for town centres?
16/04/2020 Nigel Wilcock warns that many town centre businesses are now probably terminally damaged – and genuine change will be essential. |
Repurposing town centres
26/03/2020 Phil Mayall explains why local authority intervention is key to successful urban regeneration schemes. |
Councillors look abroad to learn how to ‘deliver a high street renaissance’
07/02/2020 District councils are looking to Belgium for ideas about how to revitalize town centres. |
Welsh village home of the UK’s ‘best high street’
24/01/2020 Treorchy High Street in the Rhondda Valley has been crowned the UK’s best in this year’s Great British High Street Awards. |
Think tank warns red tape is ‘strangling’ the high street
17/01/2020 National planning guidelines and local plans are failing to revitalise the high street, a new report by a think tank has warned. |
Pilot areas announced as part of effort to ‘rejuvenate’ high streets
02/01/2020 The Government has announced 14 new pilot areas that will receive tailored expert support to assist in rejuvenating their town centres. |
Report highlights nine inspirational towns
29/11/2019 A collection of case studies to show how towns can prevent decline and create new opportunities for change has been published. |
Retail, High Streets and Business Rates
07/11/2019 John Orchard argues the time has come to ignore the hyperbole surrounding business rates. |
High street hit as retail employment falls by 85,000
24/10/2019 ‘Weak’ consumer demand and ‘Brexit uncertainty’ have been blamed for the decline of the high street as figures reveal thousands of retail jobs have been lost. |
Stockton’s reinvention of the high street
11/10/2019 A town in the North East with a proud industrial heritage is steaming forward into the 21st century with a bold and highly successful regeneration initiative. |
Whitehall launches £95m high street fund
16/09/2019 The high streets that will benefit from a £95m Government fund have been identified. |
High streets see ‘record decline’ in shops as 16 close each day
11/09/2019 High streets have been hit hard this year with a record decline in store numbers being recorded for the first half of 2019. |
Government increases high street fund to £1bn
27/08/2019 The Government has announced 50 more towns will be eligible to bid for a share of funding to revitalise their high street. |
Labour announce plans to ‘revive’ high street
19/08/2019 A Labour Government would give councils the power to reopen abandoned shops to ‘revive Britain’s struggling high streets’, it was announced over the weekend. |
High street retailers call for reform of ‘broken’ business rates
13/08/2019 Over 50 high street retailers have signed a letter calling on Chancellor Sajid Javid to reform the business rates system. |
Around 50 towns to benefit from multi-million pound high street fund
08/07/2019 The Government has announced the second phase of a multi-million pound fund designed to ‘transform’ high streets across the country. |
Minister announces £100,000 to boost town centres
02/07/2019 High Streets Minister Jake Berry has announced the latest round of funding to make shopping centres more attractive to business. |
Protecting town centres
10/06/2019 Debenhams CVA: Josh Myerson and Andrew Haughey explain what councils and local authorities can do to protect their town centres. |
Mayor calls for creation of 'free trade zones' in city centres
05/06/2019 West Midlands Mayor Andy Street has called for a 'wholesale review' of the business rates system to save struggling high streets. |
£62m fund to regenerate historic high streets
20/05/2019 The culture secretary has said that a new £62m fund will ‘breathe new life’ into historic high streets across the country. |
Whitehall ‘unwilling’ to help the high street, committee says
08/05/2019 The Government is ‘unwilling’ to give high streets a ‘fighting chance’ in the battle with online retailers, a select committee has concluded. |
Opening doors on the High Street
11/03/2019 Can the government's pilot scheme open doors on the High Street? Fiona Sawyer and Frances Edwards report. |
UK Franchise calls for high street reform in 2019
19/02/2019 Mathnasium urges landlords and planning departments to modernise planning policy. |
Whitehall makes £50,000 available for high streets
25/01/2019 Communities across the country can bid for up to £50,000 to help make local areas more attractive for business, the high streets minister has announced. |
Crickhowell High Street named as best in the UK
16/11/2018 Crickhowell High Street has been announced as the winner of the Great British High Street Awards. |
Plans to make empty high street premises ‘community hubs’
07/11/2018 The communities secretary will today announce plans to support the conversion of empty high street premises into homes and community hubs. |
Grimsby ‘unhealthiest’ high street in Britain
02/11/2018 Grimsby has the ‘unhealthiest’ high street in Britain, according to a study that looks at the impact of the high street on the health of a town’s residents. |
This issue of Public Property examines how how flexible workspaces can lead the way in regeneration for local authorities, Why local authority intervention is key to successful urban regeneration schemes and if the Government’s challenge of embracing beauty is an opportunity for communities.
The March issue also takes a closer look at Blackburn with Darwen Council's first digital health hub to help people gain control over health and care services.
