What is being done to revive Britain’s high streets?
2nd April, 2026
Few places chart a community’s rise or decline quite like its high street. Whilst boarded‑up shops are often a sign of underlying social strain, it is also true that an effective regeneration project that improves a high street will normally act as a catalyst for much wider neighbourhood renewal – bringing communities together, nurturing pride in place and improving prosperity.
In this article, regeneration lawyer Alexander Rose looks at the government’s pledge to revive Britain’s High Streets and the initiatives being brought forward to deliver this.
Introduction
There are nearly 7,000 high streets in Great Britain. Each plays an important role in the local community, providing a location for social interaction and a focal point for economic activity.
Many of the country’s high streets were designed to cater for 19th and 20th century retail behaviours, in particular localised and in-person shopping. As a result, these have been impacted by the rise of out-of-town shopping centres and online purchasing.
Whilst some high streets have been able to reinvent their offering, many others have suffered from reduced footfall which has, in turn, put off larger and more prestigious brands from investing. Recent polling shows that 79% of people are now concerned about the decline of their local high street, with 64% concerned about crime and violence.
Decline is a vicious cycle. Once footfall ebbs away, it becomes harder and harder to restore the prestige of a high street. At the same time, because high streets are often the fulcrum of local communities, revitalising them can result in improvements across the wider area.
The government recognises the importance of Britain’s high streets and has pledged to revive them through a series of initiatives, including investing public funding in regeneration initiatives and equipping public authorities with new powers to address anti-social behaviour.
The National High Streets Strategy
The government has announced that it will publish a High Streets Strategy later this year. This will be a cross‑government plan designed to align public policy across departments and provide a single, consistent framework for support to all struggling high streets.
It is likely to interact closely with the government’s English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, which currently includes powers to give local people a “community right to buy” – a right of first refusal to community groups to purchase assets of community value at a negotiated or market value price within a 12-month moratorium period from the point of listing for sale.
Pride in Place funding
The Pride in Place Programme is a £5.8bn public fund providing grants of up to £20m to 284 neighbourhoods in the UK. What is novel about the Pride in Place Programme is that “residents, local businesses, civil society and community organisations” will lead upon decision making “working in partnership with their respective local authority“. Therefore, it will be local people who decide the projects that they think are best to “rebuild and transform their neighbourhoods“.
This dynamic is lauded for bringing in the expertise of local people to bear upon decision making, but raises questions around autonomy vs accountability. As set out in our previous article on this subject, questions have been raised about how governance issues and subsidy control will be properly managed in Pride in Place projects.
High Streets Innovation Partnerships
In March 2026 the Government announced £301m of public funding to deliver High Streets Innovation Partnerships. These partnerships will focus on transforming town centre high streets into mixed-use spaces with new homes, health services, libraries, community hubs and green spaces. Alongside this initiative will be the ‘Safe places for children to play’ funding – £18 million to be spent upon ensuring children in 66 of the country’s most deprived communities have good quality play spaces.
Conclusion
Many people are concerned about the state of the country’s high streets. However, the government is aware of the issue and is using the powers and funds available to it in order to effect change. Of course, for real renewal to occur, these initiatives will require buy-in from businesses and consumers in order to meaningfully support the revitalisation of our high streets.
Ward Hadaway’s Alexander Rose is a competition lawyer with extensive experience of advising on regeneration issues, including speaking to committees within the House of Commons and House of Lords on issues relating to public funding. If you require legal advice on issues such as Grant Funding Agreements, subsidy control and public procurement, please do get in touch.
Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
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