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Support for regenerating local high streets and removing unlawful storefronts

High Street Innovation Partnerships

In March 2026, the government announced £301 million in funding for High Street Innovation Partnerships. A press release issued by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government states this funding “will support local communities to reimagine and revive struggling high streets and make them fit for the future” and that allocations will be announced in “due course.”

The government has yet to publish specific information on what this funding can be used for or how it will be distributed.

High Streets Strategy

The government indicated in January 2026 that it would publish a High Streets Strategy this year, which would be “be backed by at least £150 million of support.” In a Written Statement on 2 February 2026, the government indicated this funding would be used to “improve neglected shopfronts, bring empty units back into use, and restore pride in local high streets”, with funding prioritised for areas “that have felt the harshest impact of high street decline.”

The strategy is yet to be published.

Pride in Place Impact Fund

In September 2025, the government announced the creation of the Pride in Place Impact Fund. This fund makes awards of £1.5 million over two years, between 2025 and 2027 to 93 places (Bridgend in Wales will receive two awards, worth £3 million in total). For a full list of places that will receive funding from the Pride in Place Impact Fund, see Appendix One of the fund prospectus.

The Fund has three objectives – funding for community spaces, public spaces, and high street and town centre revitalisation.

The fund prospectus says the purpose of the high street and town centre revitalisation objective is to make areas “more attractive and welcoming places where people congregate and which encourage economic activity” and gives the following examples of initiatives that could be funded:

• Shop frontage improvements
• Adaptations that bring premises back into use
• Streetscape improvements
• Public art
• Trails and wayfinding
• Creating or improving the infrastructure for regular markets.

Pride in Place Programme

The Pride in Place Programme consists of two different phases.

• Phase 1 consists of 75 towns originally selected for the Long-Term Plan for Towns/Plan for Neighbourhoods in 2023 and 2025 – a full list is available here.
• Phase 2 consists of 169 new places announced in September 2025 and awards for 40 new places announced in March 2026.

In both phases, places will receive up to £20 million over a ten-year period.

Selected towns are required to establish Neighbourhood Boards, in partnership with local authorities to develop 10-year Regeneration Plans, setting out details of activities that will be pursued to achieve the 3 strategic objectives of the programme:

• Build stronger communities
• Create thriving places
• To empower people to take back control

In a Written Statement on 2 June 2026, the government said it will “publish guidance to make sure Neighbourhood Boards have all the tools they to need use local suppliers and invest in local businesses.”

High Street Rental Auctions

Powers to allow local councils to carry out high street rental auctions (HSRAs) have been in force since 2 December 2024. These new powers allow local authorities to require landlords to rent out persistently vacant commercial properties to new tenants. They apply to England only.

For more information, see the Library briefing Government policy on high street rental auctions.

Tackling illicit activity in high street shops

Various agencies have raised concerns over the sale of counterfeit and illicit goods in high street shops, including the sale of illegal or counterfeit tobacco, vapes, clothes, alcohol and food. In some cases, these activities are linked to serious and organised crime groups.

In certain consumer protection areas – such as the sale of counterfeit goods, illicit tobacco and vapes, and unsafe products – local authority Trading Standards is the lead enforcement agency. However, given the frequent links to other forms of criminality and organised crime groups, enforcement often requires coordination across policing and other agencies, such as the National Crime Agency, HMRC, and Home Office Immigration Enforcement. 

The Library briefing Tackling illicit activity in high street shops (26 June 2026) provides more information on efforts to tackle crime being conducted from high street shops, including powers to close shops.

Further reading

Parliamentary material

Tackling illicit activity in high street shops, House of Commons Library, 26 June 2026

High Streets, HC Deb 15 June 2026, 544-545

Local growth funds, House of Commons Library, 12 June 2026

High Street Businesses: Government Support, HC Deb 4 June 2026, c 278WH-304WH

Pride in Place - High Streets Update, Written Statement, UIN HCWS81, 2 June 2026

Delivering for Communities, Written Statement, UIN HCWS1428, 23 March 2026

High Streets and Towns: Regeneration, HL Deb 18 March 2026, c 867-870

High Streets, HC Deb 23 February 2026, c 12-13

Government Support for High Streets, Written Statement, UIN HCWS1295, 2 February 2026

High streets to receive £150 million to restore community pride, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 31 January 2026

Government policy on high street rental auctions, House of Commons Library, 24 February 2025

High Streets: Life beyond retail? (PDF), House of Lords Built Environment Committee, 28 November 2024. The Government Response (PDF) was published on 6 February 2025