Tender
Blackpool seeks development partner for central housing regeneration scheme
By Staff Writer | 22 October 2026
Blackpool Council has invited requests to participate for a development partner to redevelop a 5.41-hectare site near the town centre, with up to 230 new homes, backed by Homes England grant.
The tender notice for the Blackpool Central Housing Regeneration Area Scheme was published on Find a Tender on 21 October 2026. The partner will work with the council to deliver a residential-led scheme close to the town centre, and development works on the site are expected to begin in 2028, subject to the necessary approvals.
The scope
The notice lists the workstreams. The partner will demolish up to 300 densely populated properties and other structures and remove the associated infrastructure, clear and prepare the site, and build up to 230 new homes with car and cycle parking.
The scheme also includes a local centre with flexible commercial floorspace, which may include office, retail, leisure and food and drink uses, and community space such as halls and meeting places. New public realm, landscaped open space, infrastructure and highway works complete the list.
Funding and value
The council has entered into a grant funding agreement with Homes England, and the notice says the project is now backed by 110.4m pounds of grant. It forms part of a wider 15-year vision for housing and communities across inner Blackpool.
The council gives two figures, and they measure different things. The estimated value of the project on the defined site, within its red line boundary, is 102m pounds including VAT. The total estimated value in the notice is 300m pounds excluding VAT, or 360m pounds including it, because it also covers extension options and provision for possible future phases within an extended boundary. The council says it cannot guarantee that any extension or further phase will go ahead.
The procurement
Blackpool is running a multi-stage competitive flexible procedure under section 20(2)(b) of the Procurement Act 2023. The request to participate stage, made up of the procurement specific questionnaire and conditions of participation, will be used to shortlist three bidders.
The three will be invited to an introductory dialogue session and to submit initial tenders, with draft heads of terms setting out the council's key legal positions published alongside. Initial tenders will receive feedback to guide further dialogue before final tenders are invited. The council has reserved the right to hold further rounds of dialogue with all three bidders on an equal basis.
Final tenders will be scored on scheme proposals at 25 per cent, delivery and partnership approach, programme and risk at 20 per cent, social value at 15 per cent, commercial and financial at 30 per cent and legal at 10 per cent. The council intends to add sub-criteria in the invitation to submit initial tenders.
The contract will run for an initial ten years from 1 August 2027, with options to extend in one-year increments for a further ten years, giving a maximum term of 20 years.
Requests to participate are due by 18:00 on 20 November 2026 through the council's procurement portal, The Chest, and the last date for clarification questions is 13 November. The award period runs to 31 July 2027. The council published an earlier market engagement notice on the scheme on 10 August 2026.