Labour to tell High Street landlords who keep shops empty 'use it or lose it'

A plan to breathe life back into Britain’s high streets will force landlords of empty shops to “use it or lose it” under Labour .

A register of shop owners will be set up by councils in every shopping area which sets strict limits on how long a shop can remain empty before it is taken over.

In most places it will be as little as a year.

Increasingly high rents are blamed for forcing many traders out of business. As many as ten per cent of town centre shops are reported to be boarded up - a dismal list of almost 30,000 retail units.

They will be replaced by new start-ups, co-operative ventures and community projects.

An overhaul of business rates is promised to help reduce costs of physical shops in the competition with online shopping.

Rebecca Long-Bailey said Labour would revitalise Britain's High Streets (Anthony Devlin)

Free wifi in shopping centres and measures to keep post offices and banks open will also be developed after ministerial consultations with operators.

Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey said: “Under the Tories, our high streets face a long and agonising death. 

“Thousands of shops have closed down and tens of thousands of jobs have been lost. Labour’s radical plans will bring an end to shops boarding up and stop the heart of our communities from being ripped out.”