30/10/2026
𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡-𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞
Civic Voice welcomes the Chancellor’s support for town centres. It also regrets that the Budget once again does nothing to address VAT on historic and listed building works.
Repairing and adapting historic buildings still generally carries VAT at 20%, while most new-build housing is zero-rated. That gap is a perverse incentive. It makes demolition and new build cheaper than caring for the buildings that give our towns their character. It also works against the government’s own aims on housing, climate and growth, because reusing existing buildings saves carbon and brings empty upper floors back into use. The Culture, Media and Sport Committee has recommended targeted VAT relief for listed buildings. Wednesday was a missed chance to act on it.
More could be done to bring town centres back to life, for example:
𝐓𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐬, including bigger units, with high street rental auctions and stronger powers against absentee owners.
𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬 above shops into homes, so town centres have people living in them again.
𝐑𝐢𝐧𝐠-𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐲 for public realm, heritage and town-centre improvements.
𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞 after years in which councils have lost conservation and planning enforcement officers.
𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐫 get a fair route to central government funding initiatives.
Read our full press release here
https://civicvoice.org.uk/2026/10/30/budget-backs-small-high-street-businesses-but-leaves-historic-buildings-paying-the-price/
