The government has unveiled an investment of up to £5 billion aimed at revitalising high streets, parks, and public spaces across the country.
The funding initiative, part of the new ‘Pride in Place’ programme, is designed to empower communities in 339 neighbourhoods to spearhead local renewal efforts.
A core component of the plan will see 169 areas receive £2 million annually for a decade, providing a total of £3.5 billion to ensure long-term planning certainty.
That sum is in addition to an existing £1.5 billion commitment already allocated to 75 areas.
Furthermore, 95 other locations are set to benefit from an immediate £1.5 million cash injection, specifically earmarked for upgrading public amenities such as new green spaces, play areas, and sports and leisure facilities.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said that local residents, who he described as those “with real skin in the game”, would be central to deciding how these funds are utilised.
The initiative also grants communities enhanced powers to safeguard local pubs and libraries, alongside the ability to block the establishment of unwanted betting and vape shops, as well as fake barbers.
Councils will be given the opportunity to seize derelict buildings and boarded-up shops under Community Right to Buy and compulsory purchase powers.
“For too long, people have watched their towns and streets decline – powerless to stop boarded-up shops and neglected parks. That ends now,” Sir Keir said.
“We’re investing in the UK’s future, by backing the true patriots that build our communities up in neighbourhoods across every corner of the country. Because it’s people who bring pride, hope and life to our communities.
“This is a huge investment, but what matters most is who decides how it’s spent: the neighbours, volunteers and parents who know their communities best – the people with real skin in the game.”
Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Steve Reed said: “Building pride in place starts with people, not politics.
“Local people know what they want to see in their neighbourhoods – and they don’t need government to dictate it.
“This plan will spark an historic grassroots movement that will restore local people’s power, boost national pride and help people get on in life across the UK as part of our plan for change.”
Communities in Eston, Elgin, Ramsgate and Torbay, among others, have already come together to discuss ideas for regenerating their areas, the government said.
The announcement has been welcomed by the Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA) and Health Equity North.
Dr Eman Zied Abozied, a research associate at Newcastle University Population Sciences Institute, said that the prevalence of “unhealthy amenities” like gambling and vape shops is “damaging to health and is widening inequalities, particularly in northern regions”.
New community powers to block these businesses “marks an important step towards tackling the clustering of unhealthy amenities that too often undermine community health and wellbeing”, she said.
Dr Zied Abozied added that it is also key to invest in and incentivise the growth of health and wellbeing promoting amenities, like supermarkets, libraries and pharmacies.
