£95m announced to revive historic high streets

Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan has revealed the locations that will benefit from a £95 million heritage boost for high streets in 69 towns across the country.

The £95 million funding will provide a welcome boost that will breathe new life into historic buildings and areas in our towns and cities. The investment will be funded by combining £40 million from the Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport’s Heritage High Street Fund with £52 million from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Future High Street Fund.

An additional £3 million will be provided by the National Lottery Heritage Fund to support a cultural programme to engage people in the life and history of their high streets.

The money will help on a variety of projects, including: essential repair works in historic buildings and reveal hidden and forgotten features of buildings by restoring shop-fronts and facades; developing education projects and bespoke events to help reposition historic buildings as community hubs; and stimulating commercial investment in high streets.

Morgan said: “Our nation’s heritage is one of our great calling cards to the world, attracting millions of visitors to beautiful historic buildings that sit at the heart of our communities. It is right that we ensure these buildings are preserved for future generations but it is important that we make them work for the modern world. This £95 million will help breathe new life into high streets all over England, benefiting businesses, supporting our much-loved buildings and helping to make our communities more attractive places to live, work and visit.”

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “I want to make sure the nation’s high streets continue to be at the heart of local communities. Today’s funding, part of the £3.6 billion we have committed to helping towns across the country, will revitalise much-loved historic buildings, helping to reverse the decline of our town centres. Ensuring that prosperity and opportunities are available to everyone in this country, not just those in our biggest cities, is a priority of this government in our mission to ‘level up’ the regions.”