Covid-19 has undoubtedly impacted the world around us, the built environment included. The truth is our towns and city centres were already changing. In 2020 these changes were accelerated. As the need for particular uses and businesses usually found in the heart of towns and cities reduces, opportunities arise to remodel and revitalise those places. What happens next matters.

While for some the pandemic meant a yearning for the countryside and more space, for many, it was the loss of human contact and loneliness that was the biggest detriment. The pandemic and its subsequent lockdowns showed us that human beings need to interact with other human beings. It is after all, what makes us human.

As we emerge from Covid-19, our town and city centres will be best placed to enable people to connect with others and create communities. The diagnosis for these places for when we 'Build Back Better' as per the Government’s post-Covid strategy? Homes. Lots of them.

The good news is that it’s already happening. By combining the retail boundaries of over 2,000 towns and cities across the UK, with data showing the delivery and planned delivery of housing, we can reveal how many homes are set to be delivered where the ‘retail core’ of towns and cities once stood.

In the five years to June 2020, over 36,000 new homes were built in the very heart of our towns and cities. That is set to be eclipsed with a total of 68,000 new homes currently under construction and a further 173,000 with planning consent. London unsurprisingly dominates recent delivery, particularly for private sales. The North West however isn’t far behind.

Build to Rent has helped bring forward much-needed new homes, particularly in places like Manchester. The sector is particularly suited to city centre living. In fact 27 per cent of all build-to-rent completions over the past five years have come from town and city centres. For new build sales, the equivalent figure is just 4 per cent. Manchester is leading the way when it comes to build to rent. Other emerging hotspots include Birmingham, Glasgow and Leeds.

Through creating vibrant places for people to live where there is a wide mix of uses such as offices, schools, nurseries, doctors surgeries, on top of the usual coffee shops, barbers, bars and restaurants, alongside viable retail, people can connect with others.

But it is not just the big cities which will see new homes built in the centre. Yes it is most visible and prominent in places like Manchester and London, but the data shows smaller towns will also be delivering lots more housing in the very heart of their communities.

Whether it’s Aberdeen or Chichester, Newport or Barnsley, towns and cities up and down the country all have one thing in common. Their town centres are the heart and soul of their communities. What matters is what happens next.