A host of town centre stakeholders including Boots, Transport for London and Legal & General Investment Management have backed proposals to revive failing high streets, including a new buyout fund and a consultation on community right to buy.
Research for “A Platform for Places”, published by think tank Radix, also recommended a specific business rates relief for regulated socially-trading organisations, set at a minimum of half of their business rates bill.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has been urged to let councils lease or sell assets on favourable terms. More support for councils to use compulsory purchase orders to tackle long-term vacant properties as a last resort was also mooted, as was growing the Heritage Development Trust to use historic assets to rejuvenate high streets.
The initiative aims to unite community leaders, councils and asset owners on bringing more town centre properties into community use as well as ownership where appropriate, while presenting viable development and investment opportunities.
Participants included representatives from the British Property Federation, the High Streets Task Force, Moorgarth, Wandsworth Council, housing association Magenta Living and charitable trust Power to Change.
Ben Rich, chief executive of Radix, said: “A Platform for Places is a new community-led strategy to revive our high streets, based on practical experience of what works. It is led from the bottom up, but the opportunity exists for the government to turbocharge its impact by taking on board these proposals to bring vibrancy, increased footfall and new revenue to struggling town centres.”
Platform convenor Rebecca Trevalyan said the initiative will bring local social enterprises together with council leaders and national property owners and investors as “unlikely allies” to “unlock underused buildings for amazing ideas”.
Nathan Rees, real estate partner at Shoosmiths, which was the lead sponsor for the report, said: “The aim of A Platform for Places is to put forward workable solutions for revitalising our high streets – maximising the power of real estate and driving economic growth.
“This hinges on successfully bringing together public and private partners and ensuring that the proposals put forward are commercially viable for landlords and investors, as well as community-led or smaller businesses that can maximise under-utilised or vacant assets.”
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