Short-term letting in Lancaster and Blackpool

Illuminations, Morecambe Bay and a university city

This Lancashire market combines two very different places. Blackpool is still one of Britain's biggest resorts, with the promenade, the Pleasure Beach, the Tower, conferences in the Winter Gardens and the Illuminations stretching the season into the autumn. Lancaster, a compact historic city with a castle and a university, sits on the edge of Morecambe Bay and the Forest of Bowland, with the Lake District within easy reach. Groups and families dominate in Blackpool; walkers, visiting parents and academics in Lancaster.

Blackpool's planning framework is different

Blackpool Council manages holiday accommodation through a Holiday Accommodation Supplementary Planning Document adopted in November 2017. It defines Holiday Accommodation Areas along the seafront and around the town centre, from Norbreck and Bispham to South Beach and the Pleasure Beach, where changes of use away from tourism are restricted to protect clusters of guest accommodation. Outside those areas the council has encouraged surplus guesthouses to return to residential use. Blackpool's Article 4 directions cover houses in multiple occupation, the promenade and conservation areas, not short lets as such. Whether letting an ordinary house or flat to visitors needs permission is therefore a site-specific question to put to the planning team before you buy or list. Lancaster, by contrast, applies the general English approach of judging material change of use case by case.

National rules and local taxes

England has no licence or register in force; the national register is due to be fully running by March 2027 according to the government's announcement of 3 September 2026. Blackpool has charged a 100% council tax premium since 1 April 2025 on substantially furnished homes that are only occupied periodically, which its policy says includes short-term holiday lets that remain on council tax. Meeting the business-rates test (140 nights available, 70 let) moves a property out of that regime.

Our advice

In Blackpool, get the planning position in writing for the exact address, and be firm on group bookings and noise. In Lancaster, think about graduation weeks and academic visitors. Tell us about the property: we study every request and tell you honestly whether and how we can help.

Along the Fylde coast and around the bay

Between the two headline towns sit places that behave differently again. Lytham St Annes is the genteel neighbour, with the Royal Lytham links that has hosted The Open and an open-air summer concert series on Lytham Green; guests there expect a quieter, better-finished house than on Blackpool's central streets. Blackpool's coastal tramway runs north to Fleetwood, so a flat near a tram stop at Bispham or Cleveleys can serve visitors who want the Illuminations without staying in the thick of them. Ballroom dancers arrive every spring for the dance festival in the Winter Gardens, a loyal crowd that books well ahead and values a calm stay.

Across the bay, Morecambe is changing. The Eden Project's planned site on the seafront, near the art deco Midland Hotel and the Eric Morecambe statue, is expected to open around 2028, and owners who buy there are betting on that shift. In Lancaster, Williamson Park and the Ashton Memorial, the Priory and the castle frame the historic centre, while the university campus at Bailrigg lies to the south.

• Arnside and Silverdale attract birdwatchers heading for Leighton Moss and walkers who want limestone woodland.
• A caution for guests: Morecambe Bay's sands and tides are dangerous; point visitors to the official guided cross-bay walks rather than letting them set out alone.
• The M55 funnels summer traffic into Blackpool, so clear parking instructions save difficult arrivals.