Revo warns high street planning powers could add to vacancy in inquiry evidence

Retail property forum Revo has warned that proposed planning powers allowing communities to block unwanted businesses from high streets could create more vacancy and hold back deprived areas, in written evidence published on 23 October 2026.

The submission, written by Revo chair Dan Parr on the body's behalf, sets out its views on the role of the high street and the changes it believes are needed. Revo described the exercise as MHCLG's Revitalising High Streets Inquiry.

Revo said the powers needed to be evaluated. If applied improperly, it said, they had the potential only to create more vacancy and remove economic value from communities. It added that the powers would almost certainly lead to imbalance across the country, because some communities would be better placed to apply them than others.

Dan Parr, Chair of Revo, said: "It is worth stressing again that business rates reform is crucial," arguing that reform was needed to create a viable environment for the private sector investment that he said ultimately drives improvements to place.

Clustering and tenant mix

Asked about the clustering of betting shops, vape shops and barbers, Revo said the question was less about the impact of those uses and more about whether a reasonable alternative existed. It argued that vacancy could not be treated as a positive alternative, so it would be unfair to expect property owners to ignore such tenants unless other business types were shown to be viable.

Its recommendation was for owners and local groups to work together to understand what communities want from their high street, and then to find ways to incentivise and support businesses that could build community pride.

On regeneration, Revo said it would always recommend collaboration between local authorities and private enterprise. Without it, the body said, either expectations were set too high and schemes became unviable, or places failed to speak to the people who should use them.

Public realm and design

Revo said well-planned public realm improvements should have a long-lasting positive effect, but that poorly planned pedestrianisation raised questions about public transport, displaced traffic and whether the tenant mix suited a pedestrianised street.

Quality design, it said, creates environments that people visit more often, stay in longer and, provided the offer is right, spend more in.

Business rates

Revo said it supports business rates reform but that recent cuts and relief would make only a small difference because the system had become too complex, too costly and too arbitrary.

It singled out the 20% cut in bills for pubs, social clubs and music venues. The government announced that measure on 23 July 2026, saying it would apply to nearly 32,000 pubs, clubs and live music venues in England from April 2027 and save the typical pub an estimated £1,100 in the next financial year.

Revo said the cut ought to be welcomed on the face of it, but that it created a sense that those businesses were more valued than others, which it called an unfair reflection of the range of uses on high streets. It also said the valuation threshold could change decisions on larger spaces at a time when many destinations rely on anchor units to support smaller stores and independents.

The body said it backs the principles of The Shopkeepers' Campaign and wants a simpler, more appropriate rates system. Revo has separately said it supports the campaign's call for the Uniform Business Rate to be lowered to 30p for retail.

Pride in Place funding

On the allocation of Pride in Place funding, Revo welcomed money going to deprived areas but said the approach was only justified with a detailed understanding of who lives, works and visits each place and the causes of its deprivation. Without that grounding in data, it said, funding could never be used effectively.

It also recommended that private enterprise be involved in Pride in Place conversations so that realistic goals are set that add long-term value.

The government's Pride in Place Strategy set out up to £5bn over 10 years to support up to 250 places, with spending decisions sitting with a Neighbourhood Board in each area. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's programme FAQ, updated 17 September 2026, puts the programme at up to £5.8bn over 10 years across 284 communities, and the government said 40 new areas were chosen using an updated selection methodology.

Background

Parr, who is Senior Vice President at CACI, was announced as chair of Revo's executive board in July 2026 after a year as vice chair. Stuart Harris was named vice chair at the same time under an arrangement of annual appointments; Vivienne King, founder of Impactful Places, held the chair for the first year of that arrangement.

Revo describes itself as the forum for retail-led mixed use real estate, with a membership spanning the retail, leisure, property and placemaking industry, and says it has operated for nearly four decades.

Parr said in the evidence: "We believe that there have been some positive changes that are being felt by businesses," and that the inquiry would raise intelligent options to support high streets. The 20% rates cut for pubs, clubs and live music venues takes effect in April 2027.