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Love Thy High Street
Words by Krystle Sarkodie
During the pandemic, I have become an avid online shopper, previously online shopping was one of the things I hated to do but the lockdown forced me to embrace a new way of shopping. Recently I decided I wanted to get back to the high street and the joys of feeling a solid fabric while I shop for an outfit; to my surprise or rather my dismay I found my favourite shop was no longer there. This was extremely annoying but what concerned me more was as I continued to walk down the high street, I saw that there were several empty shops, the high street was not full of crowds as it once was it was almost a shadow of its’ former glory.
The pandemic took a serious toll on the UK high street from the drastic reduction in footfall to the increase in online retail outlets, some brands, and store owners of boutique-style shops could not sustain themselves. Large brands like TopShop, Debenhams have fallen victim to the pandemic and have had to close up shop, other brands have downsized looking at where they have the least footfall which isn’t getting if you are from a small town.
This is a developers playground as they now have an opportunity to swoop in and create more living spaces, everyone knows that London is a fast-growing city as well as the likes of Manchester too and land is becoming hard to find so why not just convert a former shop or office into residential living. During the pandemic, several local authorities saw a sharp increase in the applications to convert office/shops into residential dwellings, which was a perfect time to build as there was less human traffic. This is a great idea for any new budding property developers as you can start with a small commercial unit and if that goes well you can use start a portfolio and apply for further funding to convert bigger buildings, but before all that you have to get past the local authority.
Many local authorities are not pleased with the recent surge in planning applications for conversions, some have said that the conversion of commercial into residential ruins the landscape of a traditional high street by providing low-quality homes. Several local authorities like Richmond council have now put a stop to applications and are no longer allowing closed shops or offices to be converted, many more councils are following suit. In an article by the Guardian last year, they described the conversions as ‘Rabbit hutch flats’ this is the concern of many of the local authorities, that renters and purchasers will be made to live in small apartments which are not conducive but cheap meaning they do not have an option but to buy or rent the unit. The Government does not fully agree with the local authorities and sees this as a solution to an ever-growing problem of empty buildings being filled, I mean whatever benefits them financially, but we can discuss that in another article.
As it stands our High Streets no longer carry the same flare it once did, but would it be a terrible idea to create more living spaces where people can commute more easily to work meaning they spend less on travel. We have stepped into a digital age where everything can be done at a click of a button, this includes our shopping, day-to-day life and even choosing our next home. I would like to see local authorities work with developers to create a home that can sit with the ethos of the area and blend in with the landscape. Watch this space for more updates on what is changing in the commercial vs residential war.