Unless you're lucky enough to be able to buy property for cash in Blackpool, then you're going to need to borrow the money. That means either a buy-to-let mortgage or a commercial loan.
Straight forward houses/single flats can be bought via a buy-to-let mortgage. These are special mortgages will allow you to rent the property to someone else. The other type, residential mortgages are only for when you're living at the property. You can rent property with a residential mortgage with pre-agreed permission from the lender, something called Consent to let. However not all lenders will agree with this, and renting without consent on a residential mortgage is technically fraud and the banks would take it seriously if you were court.
Buy-to-let mortgages are usually more expensive than residential, due to the bigger risk to pose to a lender from someone else living in the property. This means bigger deposits, bigger fees and higher rates.
Deposits start at 25%, this is the minimum you need to get finance on a rental property. Some lenders will do 20%, however these are very rare and hard to get, so 25% is known at the moment as the minimum. As an example, buying a property to rent in Blackpool for £100,000, would mean you'd need £25,000 deposit to put down.
Like any mortgage, the more deposit you put down, the cheaper the finance, however that 25% is the minimum, so without that, you won't get anywhere.
As well as big deposits, lenders charge big fees for applying. Application fees for mortgages are usually either a set fee (most seem to be around the £1000 mark) or a percentage of the purchase value. This can sometimes be added to the mortgage, but is non-refundable and something you have to pay as well as the interest on the loan itself.
Finally, buy to let product rates tend to be higher compared to their residential equivalents. At the minimum 25%, one of the cheapest fixed rates at the time of this article is with BM Solutions at 3.89%. Another decent rate is with Virgin Money at 4.49%.
Blocks of flats or property which is in an area which is predominately commercial can be refused by surveyors assessing the suitability of a buy-to-let product. These properties require a Commercial Loan.
Shawbrook Bank offer such commercial loans. These tend to have even bigger fees than buy to let mortgages, and also it can be difficult to get longer terms than 10 years. Another difference is they tend to track the LIBOR rate rather than the base rate for variable mortgages.
You can apply for mortgages and commercial loans direct, however many landlords in Blackpool and elsewhere will use a mortgage broker. These can charge up upto £1,000 but can be well worth the money if they find a cheaper deal than you can direct, and can be extremely helpful for when you have trouble applying to the lender.