HOUSE ABOUT THAT
Empty high street shops could be turned into homes under £675million funding announced in Budget
The Chancellor said he will consult on relaxing planning rules as he pours £675million of funding into the struggling high street
EMPTY shops could be turned into homes to help solve the housing crisis, Chancellor Philip Hammond has announced today.
The Chancellor said he will consult on relaxing planning rules as he pours £675million of funding into the struggling high street.
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The Chancellor has committed £675million to boosting Britain's struggling high streets
The move announced in the Budget today will make it easier for commercial properties to become residential ones.
It could solve two problems at once – by increasing the supply of housing and regenerating battered high streets as it would ensure that more empty storefronts could become family homes.
Theresa May has previously expressed support for the proposal, saying it could protect high streets.
The government will also cut business rates by a third for up to 90 per cent of retail properties.
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In a move aimed at independent shops, pubs and restaurants, the rates will be cut for two years from April 2019.
It will only apply to businesses with a rateable value of less than £51,000 - about 90 per cent of all high street shops, pubs and restaurants.
Hammond's newly announced £675 million Future High Streets fund will help improve town centre transport links, as well as create new housing and workspaces.
It will also aim to reduce congestion, and support redevelopment around high streets.
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The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is set to publish further details on how the new high street fund will work.
Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said: “Smaller businesses will be relieved by the support on business rates at a time where the current system is crippling many high streets.
"But larger retailers and manufactures - and the millions they employ across the UK - will continue to suffer needlessly until there is a full, in-depth review."
But the Campaign for Real Ale's (CAMRA) national chairman, Jackie Parker, said that the relief won't help pubs who are part of a larger chain.
She said: "The decision to implement the business rates relief for some and not all pubs is not enough to help protect pubs from extinction - we need wholesale reform of the business rates system to tackle the grossly unfair burden placed on pubs."
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Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of British Beer & Pub Association, welcomed the cuts to business rates.
She said: "The Chancellor’s announcement to cut business rates for high street and other small businesses is also great news for a lot of pubs.
"This will benefit community pubs by £120 million over the next two years, securing the viability of many locals across the country."
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