Empty stores and desolate business premises that have been closed across Southport for years could be turned into homes and residential spaces thanks to proposed relaxed government rules.
The government are taking plans to parliament today to relax planning law to make it easier for developers to transform empty shop units and buildings into housing stock.
Changes to the planning system will make it easier for business owners and developers to ‘repurpose’ premises that are no longer needed and bring them back into use, which could see a vast number of empty shops and boarded up buildings in Southport given a new lease of life as homes instead of lying empty.
The rule shake-up will mean full planning applications will not be required to demolish and rebuild unused buildings as homes, allowing commercial and retail properties to be quickly repurposed, according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
While a number of sites across Southport could be perfect for the proposed reforms, Lord Street itself sits within a significant heritage and conservation area meaning it could escape the potential reforms.
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