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Sale of the century as shops in Liverpool offered for less than 1.5 USD

Xinhua, March 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

In a bid to breathe new life into a run-down inner city suburb, Liverpool's city council is giving would-be shopkeepers and entrepreneurs the chance to transform vacant retail units into viable businesses in a new "Shops for a Pound" scheme.

The scheme is a variation on the city's hugely popular "Homes for a Pound" project.

It will see empty shops on Smithdown Road, a major route into downtown Liverpool, made available for up to three years at an all-included weekly rent of one pound (1.50 U.S. dollars) per week.

Successful applicants will have to carry out repair work themselves and must have the financing in place to do the work, but they will be offered help by a team of experts.

They will also have to agree to run their businesses from the refitted unit. Commercial rates will only apply after the three-year period has expired.

With large rooms on the two floors above the shops, they will also be able to live above the shop, saving thousands of dollars on buying a home.

The project is part of a wider regeneration plan which is also seeing 150 vacant houses nearby being offered to people for one pound on the condition that they are brought up to a decent standard within a year and aren't sold or sublet within five years.

Liverpool deputy mayor Ann O'Byrne said: "We are giving people with a passion and commitment to the area the chance to create a new business and be part of the hugely exciting grassroots regeneration program."

Councillor Gary Millar, cabinet member for business and enterprise, said: "Shops and businesses are a vital and integral part of a successful local community. This is about giving people with great ideas and a solid business plan the chance to get their venture off the ground without having to worry about rental costs in the first three years."

"We don't want to disadvantage existing local businesses so the ideas can't duplicate what's already on offer," he said, adding that shops selling services linked to fast food, gambling, pay day loans, alcohol, or tanning was not what the city wanted. Endit