High streets set for huge £5bn revival investment - check if yours is included

High streets, parks and public spaces across the UK are set for a reboot under a new £5billion investment programme, designed to shift power to local people.

The scheme, called Pride in Place, will give 169 neighbourhoods long-term stability with a £2million a year cash boost for 10 years. A further 95 areas will receive an immediate £1.5million injection to revamp high streets, green spaces and public amenities. It also hands new legal powers to communities to seize boarded-up shops, block nuisance businesses, and buy much-loved venues before they are lost to closure.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer framed the investment as part of his "Plan for Change," promising to reverse decline and put decision-making in the hands of communities.

He said: "We're investing in the UK's future by backing the true patriots who build our communities up in neighbourhoods across every corner of the country. Because it's people who bring pride, hope and life to our communities.

"This is a huge investment, but what matters most is who decides how it's spent: the neighbours, volunteers and parents who know their communities best - the people with real skin in the game."

First piloted in 75 areas, the programme is now being scaled up to 339 communities in total.

How are local communities using the funding?

Projects are already underway in the existing 75 areas. For example, in Blyth, locals are creating a cultural festival and tackling empty properties. In Elgin, residents have submitted more than a thousand ideas to revive the shopping centre.

In Newark-on-Trent, upper-floor units are being turned into housing, while Peterhead residents are ramping up CCTV to tackle antisocial behaviour and investing in indoor sports and leisure facilities.

In Eston, residents have held a conference for local businesses, schoolchildren, police, sports clubs, and schools to decide how to spend the cash. In Clifton, Nottingham, a local pastor is working to save community groups following violent disorder last summer, while playing fields and high streets are being regenerated.

Torbay is collating ideas, including funding an Agatha Christie heritage trail, while park runners in Hastings have been enlisted to share views on how to improve their community.

In Ramsgate, more than 1,000 residents and business owners have given their ideas in an online survey and in Scunthorpe, residents are working with voluntary groups to reach young people in deprived areas.

Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, said: "Building pride in place starts with people, not politics. Local people know what they want to see in their neighbourhoods - and they don't need government to dictate it.

"This plan will spark a historic grassroots movement that will restore local people's power, boost national pride and help people get on in life across the UK as part of our Plan for Change."

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: "We're giving local people the power to transform their hometowns. Giving them more control of how money is spent where they live so that together we can invest in Britain's renewal and build an economy that rewards working people.

"This £5 billion investment doesn't just reverse decades of underinvestment in our public infrastructure - it cuts through the bureaucracy by giving local people the power to deliver the change they want to see."