Let high street shops die, think tank argues

Empty high street shops should be converted into hundreds of thousands of new homes, according to a new report.

The report by the Social Market Foundation argues that the decline of traditional high street shopping is inevitable and ministers should focus their efforts on finding new uses for town centres.

Instead it calls for a major programme of converting retail units for residential use, which it claims could creation up to 800,000 new homes.

The think tank says many of those homes should be built by local councils and other public bodies in a major expansion of social housing, the paper says.

It also argues that central government should write off tens of billions of pounds of local councils’ debt to support that programme.

The report also claims that the coronavirus crisis will accelerate pre-existing trends including a shift away from shopping in urban centres.

As more and more workers spend at least some of their working week working at home, footfall in town centres will decline and more retailers will collapse, it adds.

‘Politicians pledging to save the high street are promising voters the impossible. Instead of claiming they can turn back the clock, leaders should aim to make inevitable change work better for urban centres and populations,’ said SMF research director, Scott Corfe.

‘Trying to prop up high street retailers facing long-term decline is not an act of kindness to workers or towns. It just postpones the inevitable and wastes opportunities to develop new policies to help workers and towns embrace the future.

‘Nothing can stop the demise of traditional high street shopping so it would be better for politicians to support the next chapter in the story of the high street, with hundreds of thousands of new homes that bring new life to our urban centres,’ added Mr Corfe.

The full SMF report – A new life for the high street – is available to read here.

Photo Credit – Jamie Hailstone