With Revo having taken place in Manchester recently, it’s been clear to see that there are still a lot of landlords and occupiers heavily invested in town centre retail and leisure assets who are keen to continue to do business with each other. The reported ‘death of the high street’ seems very much premature against that background.

However, there are structural changes in the sector that mean locations that are heavily dependent on retail need to evolve to ensure their future vitality. With this in mind, landlords are continuing to actively manage their assets to add to the mix of uses, including through increased leisure operations and hotel and residential development.

The big question for the planning industry is whether it could be doing more to attract people to our town centres?

The simple answer is yes. Our town centres have always been about much more than retail. They are places at the heart of our communities where people live, work and play and Government has in the past and continues to invest heavily in infrastructure to bring people to them. Leisure and food and beverage operations have dramatically risen over the last decade and the UK is very much part of the burgeoning café culture – these are all positive uses that play a key role in attracting people to our town centres through the day and into the evening. It therefore seems strange that in most cases planning permission is required to change the use from retail to restaurants and services.

Government has taken steps to facilitate an easier change between retail and some alternative uses, including financial services, and we are seeing a more pragmatic and forward-thinking approach from planning officers to alternative uses in core retail areas. Planning should also play a role in attracting residents and employers to town centres, making the best use of land and seeking higher and appropriate densities, all of which will be of benefit to the future vitality of our centres. 

One way of enabling a flexible approach towards meeting occupier requirements could be to group a series of acceptable town centre uses together in one class so that appropriate uses can be delivered without regulation. Our suggestion would be that all uses within Classes A1, A2 and A3 are grouped together to provide a new Class A1 use that is acceptable in all town centre locations and removes the requirement for example to apply for permission to deliver a restaurant in a former shop unit.

This article was first published on Costar

Further information

Contact Savills Planning