Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support the use of vacant commercial properties by businesses and organisations in the creative industries.

The government agrees that unused buildings can play an important role in supporting cultural, community and economic activity, including where appropriate through temporary use as live and electronic music spaces.

We are already providing local authorities and communities with new tools to support this. Through the new £10 million funding for High Street Rental Auctions (HSRA), we gave local authorities the power to auction the lease of long-term vacant commercial properties, putting tools in local hands to take action on empty properties.

Through MHCLG’s £5.8 billion Pride in Place Programme, local authorities and independent Neighbourhood Boards can use targeted funding to bring vacant premises back into use and support community stewardship. And the government has announced a £210m package to reinvent high streets with new shops, public services, and community spaces.

DCMS has provided £150 million to six priority Mayoral Strategic Authorities to deliver initiatives to drive growth in their areas, as part of the Creative Places Growth Fund. Initiatives include refurbishing underused spaces for the creative sector, such as the West of England Creative Workspace Fund.