Blackpool set for £2bn cash boost to bring new offices, trams, restaurants, hotels, & housing to the town

Having previously been one of the UK’s foremost and best-loved seaside destinations famed for its reputation as a classic British holiday destination, Blackpool has since slipped into increased deprivation, with high rates of crime, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicide rates. 

Aiming to combat the decline, the new £2bn injection comes as part of an investment programme led by the council alongside working with partners, and aims to facilitate economic regeneration and the re-imagination of Blackpool’s tourism offer.

The funds will be a mixture of public and private money, including the Towns Fund and levelling-up grants, both sourced from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

The project will include a new Civil Service Hub housed in a brand new orange building in the middle of town to accommodate 3,000 members of staff, a £22m investment in a new extended tram system taking people across town directly to and from Blackpool North station, and a new train station terminal featuring a Marco Pierre White restaurant and a four-star Holiday Inn hotel.

There are also plans to develop a number of to-let offices and rental units in the town, while £300m will be private money used to build a heritage quarter, restaurants, and entertainment hubs.

A further £90m will be invested in new, well-designed housing and neighbourhoods off the back of a collaboration between Blackpool Housing Company, Blackpool Council, Homes England’s , and the commercial real estate firm Avison Young.

Grant funding will also help to construct quality mixed-tenure homes, supported by wider regeneration activity. This work will be led by Blackpool Housing Company, the council’s subsidiary private-rented sector developer, alongside Lumen, its affordable housing provider.

Cllr Lynn Williams, Leader of Blackpool Council, said:  

“Our residents and communities desperately need better housing and investment in their neighbourhoods, especially in the inner areas of Blackpool. We will use this funding to continue the process of positive change, improving housing, neighbourhoods and life chances across inner Blackpool.

“We want to create strong neighbourhoods - stable, thriving and sustainable neighbourhoods that have access to things like health services, decent jobs, quality housing, schools, and leisure activities.

“It is our vision that over time you will see the removal of housing that does not meet modern standards, with new and better housing created in its place, in better neighbourhoods, designed with the interests of Blackpool residents and businesses at their heart. We want people to love where they live.”