‘Councils should welcome this policy‘
This government is not known for eureka moments, but Nick Boles’s announcement that it’s time to turn empty shops into homes was as good as it gets. After three years of farcical high street policy that has generated many column inches but delivered little of substance, this represented a major shift in thinking.
Ministers are finally starting to recognise we simply have too much retail space in Britain. There are more than 40,000 empty shops blighting our high streets, and it’s no use clinging to a sentimental vision of the past. We’ve been keeping moribund high streets on a life support machine for years, and it’s time we faced up to reality.
Our high streets are being overwhelmed by structural change. Online shopping has grown by 222% in the past five years while year on year bricks-and-mortar growth remains flat. Consumer behaviour is rapidly changing, and some high streets are never going to survive on a retail-only model.
But that doesn’t mean they cannot become vibrant communities once more. We need to change the perception that the high street is only about shops. History tells a different story. The best high streets were never just about shopping; they were about a sense of community.
Many high streets are struggling with declining footfall, and what better way to start to repopulate town centres than get people living there? High streets can no longer be seen just as temples of commerce: disruptive technology has put paid to that. They need to be redesigned to meet community needs.
Our country faces a housing crisis and the high street can play a big role in meeting the desperate need for homes. But for this to work it will have to be part of a holistic solution that gives education, leisure and health a bigger presence on the high street. The Treasury may need to revisit itsbusiness rates retention scheme, too.
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