The UK government has announced it will invest £150 million to renew “ailing High Streets”, targeting areas that have been hit hardest in recent years.

Under the plans, the government said that High Streets with boarded up shop fronts and lacking essentials such as butchers, grocers and bakeries will be given access to the funding.

The move is the first step in the government’s wider High Streets Strategy, with details on how funding will be allocated set to be shared in the coming months.

The government claims that the funding will bring people back to their local communities by supporting local and independent businesses, improving neglected shopfronts and opening up empty units.

The plans will build on the government's Pride in Place programme, which has supported over one thousand local pubs to offer extra services for their communities.

“Town centres have suffered from High Streets falling into decline, and that is why we’re taking action to turn the tide with this crucial investment and more to come,” said communities secretary Steve Reed. “We have listened to what people are telling us and that’s why we’re giving them the power and control to breathe new life back into our High Streets and restore the sense of pride communities feel, building on our transformational Pride in Place programme.”

Other measures taken by the government to regenerate High Streets include ending “pub deserts” by banning the loss of the last community facility in an area and limiting the number of betting shops.

In July 2025, the government introduced a new community right to buy through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, which gives people the power to take on community assets like sports clubs and pubs.

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