Big push to fix the UK’s high streets – including a block on betting shops, vape stores, and fake barbers

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has announced that local communities will be handed new powers to revitalise their high streets and restore pride in their towns.

The measures form the largest transfer of power from Whitehall to communities in history, the government said in a statement on Thursday (25 September).

The nationwide Pride in Place programme – which will be unveiled by the Prime Minister (Thursday, 25 September) – will deliver a record investment and support over 330 communities in total. It will tackle deep-rooted deprivation and regional inequality through wide-ranging action, including:

• Community Right to Buy: Handing local people the power to buy beloved assets, helping them turn around derelict pubs, create new parks and regenerate treasured spaces in the heart of their communities.  
• Compulsory Purchase powers: Allowing communities in England to acquire assets and eyesores like boarded up shops and derelict abandoned businesses, allowing new local start-ups to thrive. For larger sites – like disused department stores or abandoned office blocks – it could even see new health centres opening up, or local housing to help reach our target of 1.5 million homes. 
• Power to block unwanted shops: Empowering councils in England to say no to new betting shops, vapes stores and fake barbers.  
• Giving residents the power: Government will only approve spending if community groups, local organisations and social clubs have been included in decisions on how the money should be spent – putting real power in local hands and giving them a proper say over their community.

“When people step out of their front doors, they know their communities are struggling. They see shuttered pubs, fading high streets and their local areas in decline,” said Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Steve Reed.

“Yes, communities have been stretched – but they haven’t given up. They’re working hard to make things better, and we’re backing them. The Government is putting power into their hands so local people decide how best to restore pride in their neighbourhoods, not us in Westminster.

“That’s what real patriotism looks like: building up our communities and choosing renewal over division.”

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