Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to support the renovation of (a) village halls and (b) community centres.

Community centres and village halls are important parts of our social fabric in towns and villages across the UK.

Through the English Devolution Bill, we will introduce a new Community Right to Buy to help local people acquire valued community spaces, which will help to bring them back into use and rejuvenate high streets across the country.

We have also announced a further £750,000 as a 1-year extension to the £3 million Platinum Jubilee Village Halls Fund for 2025/2026. This will support the modernisation or improvement of village hall facilities by providing capital grants between £2000 and £75,000, up to a maximum of 20 per cent of eligible project costs. Since 2022, it has supported 142 large projects (£7,500 to £75,000) and 90 small projects (£2000 to £5000).