Ipswich Borough Council – ‘Dilapidated’ buildings in town to see £10m package approved

Top leaders are set to approve a £10 million package to bring ‘dilapidated’ buildings in Ipswich back to use.

The town centre regeneration fund package, which is part of the wider £25 million Towns Fund, is meant to address ‘underutilised and dilapidated buildings, deteriorating shop frontages and high vacancy rates’ within the town.

On Tuesday, members of Ipswich Borough Council’s executive will be asked to approve just over £5.3 million in grants meant to stimulate stalled development.

Although 21 bids were received, there was disappointment with the quality of the applications, with only five ultimately being recommended for approval next week.

Several owners of prominent empty buildings in the town centre have also not come forward with a bid — the council also did not receive any applications for innovative projects, which could have been covered by the grants.

Details have not been shared on which bids are up for approval.

Pending approval next week, the remaining £5.1 million would be used by Ipswich Borough Council to ‘bring important empty buildings back into use’, either by developing existing assets or acquiring and developing new ones.

Although target buildings have already been identified, information has been exempt from next week’s public executive papers.