The government has announced a new £61m Community Right to Buy Fund designed to save pubs and shops from closure, in addition to the £301m already allocated through the Pride in Place initiative.

The cashpot is intended to help those in deprived areas take on the operation of local community assets at risk, and follows the success of the Community Ownership Fund, which ran from 2021 to 2025.

“I am pushing power out of Whitehall and into the hands of the people who actually use these high streets,” said communities secretary Steve Reed. “They know what they need better than any politician in Whitehall.”

“We’re backing communities to step in and save these high street gems, building on our drive to give communities the key to their own future and power over what matters to them.” 

Though the £61m is well below that of the £150m Community Ownership Fund, the Campaign for Real Ale’s national planning policy adviser Paul Ainsworth welcomed the announcement as having a significant impact on community venues.

“Vibrant communities and flourishing local economies depend on pubs not only surviving but thriving. Community ownership is a fantastic pathway to securing a pub at the heart of community life for decades to come – a pub run by the people, for the people.”