Last week a new initiative launched by the UK Government under the Plan for Change agenda, called Pride in Place, is aimed at empowering over 330 communities across the UK to take more control over the state of their high streets and towns.

The overarching aim of the initiative is in the name, which is to restore pride in towns by revitalising high streets and town centres, particularly those in the UK’s most deprived areas. 

This will be achieved by giving local communities new powers including:

• Community Right to Buy local assets such as libraries, pubs, parks, etc.
• Compulsory Purchase of empty shops/ buildings and derelict  buildings to bring them back into use
• Regulation of unwanted businesses, with the power to block new gambling centres, vape shops, or ‘fake barbers’ where these activities are over concentrated. 

Local decision making on funding and spending on the above would be given to Pride of Place Boards comprising local community groups, clubs, or other local organisations.

Our town centre and CPO experts give their views on what we know so far:

"We are seeing a surge in High Street initiatives,  which is welcome but without proper co-ordination they risk working at cross purposes. Any new initiative must be assessed against others such as High Street Rental Auctions mandated under the Levelling-up & Regeneration Act 2023, where local authorities carry clear accountability. The same rigour and alignment must apply to community involvement, ensuring local partners are not sidelined but co-ordinated and positioned as critical accountable actors in reviving our high streets” Atul Joshi, Associate Director, Town Centre & Economic Regeneration

“At the current time charitable and community organisations do not have the ability to bring forward CPOs but could they seek to rely on public bodies, such as a Local Authority, to lend its CPO powers for the specific requirement of restoring pride in high street?  We expect a partnership-based approach between public bodies lending their CPO powers and communities leading the strategy for change in high streets would be an exciting way to deliver change and regeneration when the private sector is significantly challenged.” Nyear Yaseen, Director Land Assembly & Compulsory Purchase - Head of South

“An ambitious and worthy initiative but thought needs to be given on how these new community powers will align with local planning policy and how they can overcome the flexibility of uses afforded by planning reforms. There is risk that the initiative is directing funds to short term solutions rather than tackling the many causes of deprivation that plague town centres and influence urban decline and problem uses.” Bláthnaid Duffy, Director, Town Centre & Economic Regeneration

“There is a question on whether community groups cand deliver. Local governance will be key, and parish/town councils may be best placed to form Pride of Place Boards in order to deliver quick wins. Although, directing funds to local government could be a more effective outcome.” Christine Reeves, Associate Director, Town Centre & Economic Regeneration

The main takeaway is that while the initiative is well meaning and any initiatives that seek to tackle deprivation and support regeneration should be encouraged, it is not clear how new powers to community organisations can overcome the challenges that local authorities have faced in delivering high street regeneration. As ever, the devil will be in the detail and we hope that this will provide more clarity on how new powers and funding to communities can deliver transformational change in failing town centres.

LSH can help local authorities, community groups, town and parish councils to work together to deliver targeted interventions and strong governance that revitalise town centres. Through our deep understanding of the policy, social and economic challenges facing UK towns we are able to drive impactful place making and regeneration to shape vibrant and resilient communities.