Blackpool to benefit from Levelling Up scheme

£90 million of investment from the government aims to support Blackpool as part of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act.

The government said they hope to create high quality homes to help regenerate the town centre.

The residents of inner Blackpool are set to see the creation of new "well-designed" homes and neighbourhoods, as part of a wider aim to transform local communities.

Peter Denton, chief executive of Homes England, said the investment signals that "Levelling Up in action, indeed social equity, accelerating the regeneration of housing in inner Blackpool as part of a much wider mission to transform local communities and catalyse vital positive change in some of the town’s most deprived areas."

Homes England’s Brownfield Infrastructure Land (BIL) Fund programme will kick off regeneration projects in some of the most deprived areas of inner Blackpool.

This is the latest in a series of government interventions since Blackpool’s regeneration partnership was announced 2022. Homes England was commissioned to work with Blackpool Council alongside the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, to develop a detailed proposal for interventions that address poor quality housing in the town’s inner wards. The housing intervention will complement the Department’s wider interventions and council’s work with other partners to boost the town’s economic growth.

The £1 billion Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land fund was launched by the Department for Levelling Up in July 2023 and will unlock an estimate 65,000 homes across the country.

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.

Councillor 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 will be holding a full public consultation concerning our plans for a first phase."