Case studies

The key lesson from this case study is the increased impact through working in partnership to tackle the challenge of vacancy, rather than in silos and with individual approaches.

The Pride Hill centre, which the council bought along with the Darwin and Riverside Centres in 2018, is set to undergo a large redevelopment project to repurpose the building from retail into a "leisure anchor" and cultural and civic hub which will require planning permission for change of use.

Bath and North East Somerset Council redirected funds from events unable to go ahead due to COVID-19 and used grant funding to pay for 12 installations by local artists in the shop windows of vacant commercial units in the town centre of Bath.

The Gresham Works project outlines how the creation of a flexible business workspace by a local authority within a private sector led development can lead to significant regeneration benefits.

The council commissioned the charity Tyne and Wear Building Preservation Trust (TWBPT) to complete the restoration of three buildings sitting within at site of a convergence of regeneration schemes on Sunderland’s High Street West.

Sheffield City Council received over £3 million from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in 2015 to develop a tech hub, as part of the tech north initiative. The grant was given to the council to administer, and through a competition the council chose a bid from the owners of Castle House, a former department store in the north of the city centre that had been vacant for over five years.

The council’s initial ambition was regeneration of the town centre, which recognised the retail demise and growing vacancy, surplus retail and the opportunity for residential development on brownfield land in the town centre.

Without any external funding, the Isle of Wight Council set up pop-up shops in Newport High Street in council owned and privately owned empty properties. This was part of the wider regeneration strategy for the Island.

The London Cancer Hub will be a global centre for cancer research and innovation, delivering real benefits for cancer patients and driving economic growth.

Lewes District Council adopted a new corporate plan in February 2020, following the declaration of a climate emergency in July 2019, under a new Green/Lib Dem led ‘co-operative alliance’.