Blackpool nods through further tower-adjacent flats

Having given a 2025 consent for 24 apartments above The Albert and The Lion pub, the council has now approved a further 38 residences on the top floors.

The building’s upper floors were previously occupied by Sports Direct. Nottingham-based Gape Equity initially put forward plans for 65 flats across the 75,000 sq ft upper floors of the locally-listed Art Deco building in January last year, following the retailer’s move to the Houndshill shopping centre.

Discussions with the council then led the developer to cut its initial bid to just 24 flats across the two floors directly above the pub, with concerns over natural light on the upper floors among the factors. The amended application was approved in March 2025.

Gape, advised by Grace Machin Planning & Property, then returned last summer with proposals for 38 flats on the upper floors, a number that has now been reduced to 32.

As set out in a delegated officer report, the proposed external alterations are limited. A window is to be inserted on the northern elevation, the proportions and position of which would match other adjacent windows and essentially complete a row of windows, officers said.

They concluded: “it is not considered that any of the windows would detract from the character of the building, or the character of the Conservation Area, or the setting of the adjacent listed building”.

In all, 22 of the 32 flats proposed would have two or more bedrooms – a local policy aim – which equates to 69% of the total. Although the target is for 70%, the slight shortfall is considered acceptable due to the challenges for adaptation caused by windows taking up a significant proportion of the width and determining where internal walls can be placed.

The plans can be viewed on Blackpool’s planning portal, reference 25/0501.