High Street Place Labs
The High Street Place Labs (HSPL) programme helps local high streets to develop strategies that can attract investment and boost economic activity.
The programme aims to support London boroughs and their local high street partners to:
- develop a strategy and action plan for high street regeneration and as a basis for local action
- build a pipeline of projects to steer future investment opportunities.
HSPL is providing £600,000 funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in 2025-26, and will kick-start two London Growth Plan actions. It will support 12 high streets and town centres across London.
About the programme
HSPL continues the work from the Mayor of London’s Good Growth Fund, High Streets for All Challenge and Civic Partnership Programme. It aims fulfil the Mayoral manifesto commitment to protect, restore and improve London’s High Streets and to set out a new vision for the future.
The programme will kick-start two London Growth Plan actions to support local economies:
- Fund boroughs to create local places where people want to spend time and money, day and night.
- Increase the capacity for boroughs to develop more local growth strategies and win investment to make them happen.
Drawing on local authority insights and London-wide data, the funding is supporting 12 high streets and town centres across London.
Funding comes from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), which is a UK government programme providing funding for cross-UK investment. The fund aims to improve pride in place, while increasing life chances, investing in communities, and supporting local business, people and skills. Find out more about the UKSPF in London.
Principles
The HSPL programme is based on the following principles:
Facilitating and strengthening partnerships – such as with Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) – to invest alongside boroughs to deliver thriving and successful places.
Addressing structural inequalities and working with London’s diverse communities to develop collective ownership of high streets and town centres.
Integrating actions that ensure carbon emissions reduction from the high street to help reach net-zero. Adapting the high street to become more resilient and able to cope with climate change impacts, for the benefit of businesses, the community and Londoners.
Programme objectives
The programme has the following local priorities:
Creating more affordable workspaces where they are most needed and for uses that are most in need, such as the creative and green industries.
Bringing vacant spaces back into use for local businesses and community organisations to breathe new life into high streets.
Designing and maintaining high quality, accessible and inclusive high streets that:
- are child-friendly
- safe for women, girls and gender diverse people
- consider the mobility needs of a range of people.
Creating the local infrastructure to keep and grow an evening and night-time economy in the appropriate places, which are thriving, diverse and inclusive.
Boroughs and high streets taking part
The participating London boroughs and places are:
How we'll support High Street Place Labs
Selected locations will work in detail on innovative solutions that are bespoke and specific to that place.
The strategies will be developed with expert advice from the Greater London Authority, supported by Town Architects and Mayor’s Design Advocates.
This will happen in ‘Place Lab’ settings to:
- drive equality
- enable innovation
- facilitate engagement with local communities
- build the capacity of local communities and stakeholders.
The Mayor’s High Street Network will share insights and learnings from this programme.
(Header image credit: Hammersmith & Fulham Council)
Need a document on this page in an accessible format?
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of a PDF or other document on this page in a more accessible format, please get in touch via our online form and tell us which format you need.
It will also help us if you tell us which assistive technology you use. We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days.