A £10 million round of loan funding for town and city centre regeneration projects is set to close to applications on January 10.
The Welsh Government's Transforming Towns Loans programme supports local authorities with town and city centre regeneration projects and has allocated more than £62 million since its launch in 2014.
The 2024/25 round sees £10 million in Financial Transaction Capital available. Local authorities have been invited to apply for the town centre loan funding to invest in their communities and deliver regeneration projects.
The aim of the scheme is to reduce the number of vacant and underutilised sites and buildings to diversify town centre offers and increase footfall.
The funding also encourages more sustainable uses for empty premises, such as leisure, key services and conversion to town centre residential, and help to prevent some of the activity from being relocated to edge of town development.
The Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, Jayne Bryant, said:
“Our Transforming Towns Loans programme improves the places where people live and work, creating a sense of place and vibrant high streets.
“Empty and disused buildings are a wasted resource in our communities, and our town centre funding will create job opportunities and bring life back to high streets and disused and forgotten buildings at the heart of their town centres.
“I encourage local authorities to utilise this funding and look forward to seeing their plans to create job opportunities and bring life back to the forgotten buildings in the heart of their communities.”
