Blackpool embarks on 15-year plan to address housing woes
Backed by £90m from Homes England, the council wants to bring about transformational change to the part of the town centre that has the lowest socio-economic outputs in England.
Working with RLB, WSP, Cushman & Wakefield, and OPEN, Blackpool Council has drafted a framework for dealing with housing in the central inner area – around Central Drive – which has “the worst combination of social, economic, and demographic deprivation” in the town.
Next week, the authority’s cabinet will sign off the plan, which sets out a series of interventions to regenerate the area over the next decade and half.
The framework points to dwindling tourism numbers in the 1960s as the starting point for the decline in the quality of housing stock in the town centre.
Guesthouses were converted into homes and, due to a lack of management and maintenance, this has resulted in an “extremely dysfunctional and unbalanced housing supply that attracts low-income and vulnerable households, resulting in increased anti-social behaviour and crime”, the framework states.
The area the framework focuses on is also characterised by lower-than-average life expectancy, poor health outcomes, and high unemployment and features a high number of absent or neglectful landlords.
These factors “discourage investors from delivering new homes” in Blackpool, according to the framework, which endeavours to change that.
Interventions proposed to improve the housing landscape in Blackpool’s inner area – and in turn the lives of its residents – include:
- Private renting enforcement action
- Selective stock clearance
- Redevelopment along with refurbishment with a focus on investment in quality
- Energy efficiency improvements
- Public realm enhancements ensuring a balance of public and private space to enable sustainable communities to thrive.
Lynn Williams, Leader of Blackpool Council, said: “Housing-led regeneration has been our obsession for over 10 years, it is a huge priority for us.
“The scale of transformation needed is not to be underestimated. We want to create a mix of high-quality homes in safe and welcoming neighbourhoods with good local amenities, green open spaces and places to play and be together.
“We want to see communities where people want to live and stay for the long term”.
Well done Homes England, taking on real placemaking challenges.
By Anonymous
Meanwhile Liverpool council is busy setting the right conditions to attract the fleeing slum HMO landlords, it seems
By John
There must be hundreds of unemployed homeless people on the streets that would love to rebuild a lot of empty properties. Give them a genuine chance that can see empty properties turned into real living spaces and reduce the homeless people on the streets of BLACKPOOL. Do away with these rogue landlords and Blackpool Council get off your arse and start putting some joy back into the Seaside town and make people happy again.
By Age 64