Jenna Dutton is a Policy Advisor at the Royal Town Planning Institute.

Across the UK, high streets serve as critical drivers of the local economy, tourist attractors and hubs of community activity. In recent years, however, they have faced significant challenges, including the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, increased vacancy rates, economic deprivation, and varying accessibility.Despite these factors, there is great opportunity for high streets and town centres, in both urban and rural areas, to be revitalised and reimagined as places of pride for every community.

Recent consumer research on British high streets revealed that factors including a mix of retailers, good parking, and independent pubs and restaurants make a high street ‘great’. The research also emphasised that proximity to train stations and green spaces was considered less important. This may reflect higher levels of car ownership among the consumers surveyed, however it is still an interesting finding from a broader planning and connectivity perspective. High streets are not solely home to shops and businesses, they also provide a mixture of other uses including homes and community services. While not all high streets are suffering they remain a prominent topic of conversation as they often serve as a visual indicator of the success of an area. A Centre for Cities report released earlier this year highlighted that ‘the term ‘high street’ has been mentioned over 3,300 times in the House of Commons and House of Lords over the last five years.

Taskforce findings

The RTPI’s work on the previous government’s High Streets Taskforce (HSTF), commissioned by the former UK government in 2019, provided guidance, tools and skills to help communities, partnerships and local governments across England to transform their high streets. While the programme gave important next steps it also outlined roadblocks to improving high streets including the lack of suitable local governance structures that would usually help mobilise stakeholders, including young people. The HSTF collaborated with over nearly half of local authorities in England and engaged with 149 high streets. 

Plan for Change

On Thursday 25 September, 2025, the Prime Minister unveiled the nationwide Plan for Change (formerly Plan for Neighbourhoods Scheme) and Pride in Place programme intending to give local communities new powers to revitalise their high streets and restore pride in their towns. The investment to support over 330 communities is intended to tackle deep-rooted deprivation and regional inequality through wide-ranging action. Through this work there is potential to revitalise local communities across the country and catalyse unused and underused assets such as assets of community value. More specifically, the new places across Great Britain have been selected through a specific methodology using the Indices of Multiple Deprivation and the Community Needs Index.

Get with the programme

The Pride in Place Programme specifies main components of its roll-out including Community Right to Buy, compulsory purchase powers, power to block unwanted shops (such as betting shops) and giving residents more power. This focus on community inclusion and collaboration aligns with former taskforce findings and the intent of empowering communities to have more of a say in the direction of their high street regeneration. They note that the government will only approve spending if community groups, local organisations and social clubs have been included in decisions on how the money should be spent. The Pride in Place Impact Fund also outlines three core objectives: community spaces, public space and high street and town centre revitalisation. As the most deprived places in the UK have reduced access to both physical and social infrastructure, these are crucial to improving their daily lives and pride in their communities.

The future of high streets and town centres

While the government’s focus on high streets, alongside extensive planning reform, is important, it will be crucial that this approach remains outcomes focused rather than granting communities new powers without the capacity to strategise, prioritise or action them effectively. The Pride in Place Programme is an opportunity to put communities at the centre of Devolution.

Throughout the Pride in Place programme, the stated focus of empowering communities across the UK needs to be implemented thoughtfully with consideration of local context, community partners and planning. There is great opportunity to address the housing crisis through housing-led regeneration and encouraging town centre living to bring more vitality in both metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. The programme of high street revitalisation isn’t independent from the broader planning system and will require a holistic approach to be successful.