The government has on Friday announced a £210 million package to help bring derelict and vacant buildings back into use and revitalise high streets across England.
The funding will support the transformation of empty shopping centres, disused cinemas and other vacant buildings into shared workspaces, cafés, community hubs, health centres and civic spaces.
The largest element is a new £125m Derelict Buildings Fund, which will enable local authorities to transform vacant properties for uses identified as priorities by their communities.
A further £65m will help communities rescue and refurbish local buildings and businesses at risk of closure, including pubs and sports clubs. The government said this builds on existing initiatives such as the Pride in Place programme.
The remaining £20m will be split equally between High Street Rental Auctions and a new Co-operative Development Programme.
High Street Rental Auctions give local authorities powers to require persistently vacant commercial properties to be offered to new tenants. Existing government guidance defines eligible properties as those vacant for at least 366 days within a 24-month period.
The £10m Co-operative Development Programme will help mayors and strategic authorities establish more co-operative businesses, owned and run by staff, customers and local communities.
The government said the package is intended to give local communities greater control over the future of their high streets and forms part of a wider programme coordinated through the Place Regeneration Taskforce.
Prime minister Andy Burnham said the condition of local high streets was an important measure of whether people felt their communities were progressing.
“The truth is that too many high streets have been left to hollow out, leaving town centres a shell of what they once were,” he said. “That must change, and today’s funding will help put power back into the hands of locals who know their area best.”
Housing, Communities and Local Government secretary Angela Rayner said the funding would help turn boarded-up buildings into places for people to visit, while supporting pubs, clubs and local businesses.
“That’s what this government is about. Backing the people who know their communities best, and giving them the tools to shape their own future and breathe new life into their high streets,” she said.
The government also said it will publish a full high streets strategy later this year, setting out further plans to transform town centres across England.
The £210m announced on Friday comes from MHCLG funding already earmarked for high street support and regeneration. The announcement follows a separate £150m high streets funding package unveiled in January 2026 to support independent businesses, improve neglected shopfronts and bring empty units back into use.