The Government is urging local authorities to use compulsory purchase powers to bring long-term vacant shops back into use to revive high streets.
Speaking to Times Radio on Sunday, Communities Secretary Steve Reed warned that many empty high street properties are owned by investment funds ‘who don't even know that they own it.’
He urged local communities to ‘take ownership’ of these unused spaces by deploying compulsory purchase powers and using them for the good of the community, adding ‘the only limit on what that use could be is the creativity of the community itself.’
‘So many people come to me and say they want premises to do this, that or the other, to do skills training for people who need to get a new job, for activities for young people, gathering places for older people to tackle the epidemic of loneliness. We've got so many things we can do,’ he said.
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