Blackpool

[MashBag]

Absolutely, but when you write a policy (to solve the problem) its harder. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" visavis "eyesore"

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Policy could be any building that has been empty for X amount of years, is boarded up, is attracting rats etc, I am sure the council's lawyers could come up with something

 

[lancon]

Yup. My folks are landlords. And they're about to get hit massively with CGT if the rumours are true.
Landlords are ditching their properties really quickly at the moment.

I lived in Blackpool in the 90s. Frankly, there are many places I'd rather live too - it's grim. And these days it's much grimmer than it used to be.

Weirdly, a couple of hotels apart, Blackpool hasn't taken many refugees in - mainly apparently thanks to the 2 Conservative MPs. You'd have thought it was ripe for taking them on.

Isn't Capital Gains Tax just an income tax at a lower rate for those that have money?
Why shouldn't it be at the same rate as income tax?

 

[YeastFace]

Policy could be any building that has been empty for X amount of years, is boarded up, is attracting rats etc, I am sure the council's lawyers could come up with something

This is happening to some degree following a new law last year (Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023).

Local Authorities have the power to let any long-term vacant commercial units (usally those on the High Street) without the Landlord's permission, subject to criteria.

I don't know how much this has been used yet though.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

It seems common sense to me probably why most councils are not doing it.

 

[JockyBrewer]

This really is an issue. Good point.
There are numerous cases, where the narrow view and budget free planning t**ts stimee development with pointless, expensive & mandatory requests.

... And then they are surprised when the building deteriorates and becomes an eyesore.

But you have the flip side of the issue that the gap in land value between commercial and residential is so big that landlords will let commercial properties go derelict ("whoops, this pub caught on fire, wonder how that happened?") for years in order to persuade the planning authority that they should be allowed to turn it into flats at a massive profit.

Then you end up losing all your pubs, shops, services etc and just have miles of sprawling housing.

The incentive to do that really needs to be removed.

 

[Stu]

Isn't Capital Gains Tax just an income tax at a lower rate for those that have money?
Why shouldn't it be at the same rate as income tax?

Well yes and no.

Firstly CGT is based on investment gains rather than earned income.
If you want the economy to grow, you need to encourage investment. The Government some years back realised that housing was a cash cow because of the way it was increasing. Ironically, rather than them investing in building the houses needed, they either bulldozed blocks of flats replacing them with houses or sold them off.

Then they went after landlords. In any other business, you can offset your costs against income for tax purposes. So say you earn £100 and it costs you £60 to earn that money, you only pay tax on £40.

Not for landlords. There are very few costs that a landlord can offset now - the law changed.

It's daft. The last few Governments rely on house prices going up - they've even brought in schemes that saw huge rises.
They've stopped investing in council and housing association accommodation. Private rentals are through the roof, because there aren't enough to go round. And they're forcing landlords out, so there are even fewer properties to rent and prices go up more!

Not everyone wants to or can afford to buy. For personal reasons, my wife and I chose to rent for 8 years because we'd never be able to afford what we needed and my children's welfare was more important than our financial future.

Those who keep saying "Good, it's great the Landlords are selling up. The prices will drop" are absolutely kidding themselves. It's happening and prices aren't dropping. Our children are now getting 35 and 40 year mortgages instead.

 

[Stu]

But you have the flip side of the issue that the gap in land value between commercial and residential is so big that landlords will let commercial properties go derelict ("whoops, this pub caught on fire, wonder how that happened?") for years in order to persuade the planning authority that they should be allowed to turn it into flats at a massive profit.

Then you end up losing all your pubs, shops, services etc and just have miles of sprawling housing.

The incentive to do that really needs to be removed.

But we need the miles of sprawling housing. Hence why Labour have said they'll open up Brownfield sites.

And before someone plays the immigration card, this has been the case for a number of years.

We earn more money, therefore we expect a better standard of living, which means a couple without children want at least a 2 bedroom property. 40 years ago, this would have been unheard of. People aren't having children. Many more people aren't getting married.

In 1951, for instance, there was an average of 3.7 people per household. It's now under 2.3
Here's another scary set of statistics. We simply don't build houses. I saw another statistic that says we demolish more than 50,000 buildings a year - many of these blocks of flats so the number of individual properties is considerably more.

 

[MashBag]

Those who keep saying "Good, it's great the Landlords are selling up. The prices will drop" are absolutely kidding themselves. It's happening and prices aren't dropping. Our children are now getting 35 and 40 year mortgages instead.

Absolutely.
Are the current plans to build more are a joke too.

They don't seem to realise private landlords & their investment are part of the solution to the housing issue, and not the root of the problem.

 

[Stu]

Absolutely.
Are the current plans to build more are a joke too.

They don't seem to realise private landlords & their investment are part of the solution to the housing issue, and not the root of the problem.

Absolutely.

I've no idea how a Government can force private building companies to build housing though. They only build houses if they think there's money in it (as the lot round my way found - we have planning permission for 1500 houses, but no-one wants to build them).

 

[MashBag]

but no-one wants to build them).

... to give away.

 

[Stu]

... to give away.

That wouldn't be the case here. Yes there were a number of "affordable" houses, but it was slightly different game.

The plan was to build a town that would fit around people's work. The idea being a science park and offices, a marina, restaurant, cafes and probably a local shop plus 1500 houses. The idea being that most people would live and work locally.

The problem is, there's no real requirement for it. There were a number of businesses interested, but not the people and it's remote!

They spent a lot of money on brochures and a fancy website (which is no longer but archived)
https://web.archive.org/web/20230410213103/https://fawleywaterside.co.uk/

 

[MashBag]

That really doesn't surprise me. Most people don't have conceptualisation (if that's a word). I think that is a "build it and they will come"

 

[Chippy_Tea]

They spent a lot of money on brochures and a fancy website (which is no longer but archived)

It took a while to load on my PC and its not a bad spec or connection speed to save other members waiting here are the pictures -

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Drug and alcohol abuse and poor mental health continue to have an effect on many residents in Blackpool, the town’s director of public health has warned.

8 August 2024, 06:20 BST

A presentation by Dr Arif Rajpura showed drug deaths in the Lancashire resort were almost four times higher than the rest of England, and up 50% in the past decade with 120 drug deaths between 2020 and 2022.

More than two-thirds of those dying due to drugs in Blackpool were men, while twice as many men were dying from suicide compared to women, with the town having the sixth-highest rate in the country.

The meeting of Blackpool Council's Levelling Up scrutiny committee also heard residents were also suffering with their mental health, with around a fifth of adults (21%) diagnosed with depression in 2022/23, compared to 13% in England.

The statistics, presented at the meeting ahead of the publication of the town’s official annual public health report, showed those living in the poorest areas are likely to suffer ill health 15 years earlier than residents who are better off.

Measures to tackle drug and alcohol abuse include separating support services in order to focus on each issue, while police officers are carrying a potentially life-saving nasal spray that can reverse the effects of opioid overdose.

Figures from the presentation show there were 1,758 hospital admissions from alcohol-related conditions in 2022/23, with deaths most likely in the 45 to 64 years age group (compared to 50 to 69 years nationally).

The committee heard Blackpool’s lived experience team "had become a fundamental link to the services and members of the team were able to have 'real' conversation with service users", according to the minutes of the meeting.

Members of the committee raised concerns at the high levels of men struggling with drug, alcohol and suicide issues.

Councillors also highlighted the need to identify alcohol misuse early and the need to offer early intervention, with Dr Rajpura saying work would continue to monitor the number of licensed premises within the town and the number of off-licences offering low-cost alcohol.

Dr Rajpura added a "Get Vocal" campaign had been developed in partnership with Blackpool Football Club and the council, which includes providing a safe space for men to come together and talk to peers in a non-judgemental setting.

 

[matt.]

I sort of get what you mean chippy.

But if you convert them to "bedsits", there are now a huge number of regulations and very expensive work needed for thing like fire alarms, sprinklers, electrical safety, that escalate rapidly if the building has more than 2 floors.

Coupled with the ceiling rental cost it's just not worth doing.

In spite of what the press say I think all these extra rules & costs have caused a lot of private landlords to sell up/reduce their holdings, which isn't helping rental costs.
Which leaves the bigger landlords hoovering up these properties and creating move of a monopoly. And before people say, a lot of these properties are not suitable/undesirable for a first time buyer.

Sad but true. I got out of the property rental game 2 years ago. Stress and hassle wasn't worth the ££.