Councillors approve rent rise for Blackpool tenants

The council’s executive approved an increase of 4.1 per cent when it met on Monday January 24 meaning weekly rents will increase to £72.97 from around £70.

Coun Ivan Taylor, cabinet member with responsibility for housing, told the meeting: “We have been put in this position by the government who have changed their priority from getting the rent down to putting it up.

“The way the HRA (Housing Revenue Account) works now means without that money we can’t carry out our quite ambitious social housing programme which we all support.”

Coun Taylor added despite the increase “Blackpool rents are still among the lowest certainly in the region, and nationally.

“The pain of it is not as bad as it might have been and the importance is that we can continue our programme of housing development.”

The increase will generate an additional £713,000 to invest back into the town’s 5,000 council properties managed by Blackpool Coastal Housing.

Most tenants have their rents paid partially or fully by housing benefit.

Currently £10m is being invested in building 75 new houses at Troutbeck Crescent on Mereside, while work has begun to build 131 new homes at Grange Park as part of a £20m development.

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