Osborne awarded £235million housing repairs contract
Dacorum Borough Council has awarded its new housing management contract, worth up to £235 million, to Osborne Property Services.
The Council has been carrying out a thorough two-year search to find the best contractor to carry out all repairs; maintenance and improvement work to its council homes.
The award follows a two year OJEU* procurement process, which involved a soft market test, peer group review and options appraisal of the various models of service delivery currently used in the social housing sector.
The Total Asset Management model chosen will provide the day-to-day repairs and the planned improvement work to the Council’s 10,500 homes throughout the Borough. The model has been designed to use the repairs data to supplement stock condition information, so that investment can be targeted at those areas most in need.
The contract starts on 1 July and will run for an initial five years, although this can be extended on an annual rolling basis up to ten years.
Competitive Dialogue was used to procure the contract. This enabled the bidders to gain an in-depth understanding of the strategic objectives which the Council wants to deliver to improve the service to its tenants and leaseholders.
The Council’s Housing Maintenance and Environment Committee (HMEC) – the tenant panel which looks at repairs – were fully involved in the procurement process. HMEC member Andrea Maloney commented: “We know how the new contract is structured so that the decisions about repairs or improvements are carried out to provide good long-term solutions, rather than a ‘quick fix’. We look forward to working with the new contractor knowing that we can influence their plans and question their actions. The process has been very good and we have high hopes for a new and improved service.”
Dacorum Borough Council’s Portfolio Holder for Housing, Councillor Margaret Griffiths, said: “We’re looking forward to developing a close working relationship with Osborne. We’ll be creating even more opportunities for tenants to get involved and welcome their input to help us improve our housing repairs service further.”
The new service will be delivered using a term partnering contract and some of the Council’s staff will co-locate with Osborne’s team to maximise the benefits of closer working relationships and reduce any duplication.
Nick Sterling, Managing Director for Osborne Property Services said: “Osborne is delighted to have been selected from a very strong field for this Total Asset Management Contract, the first of its kind in the market place. Not only is this unique in the market but also in its content as it encompasses a genuine long term strategic approach to managing assets. Osborne will become truly embedded with Dacorum in helping shape and deliver the exciting plans they have for the benefit of the whole borough and we look forward to working closely with them and seeing the communities of Dacorum see real benefit.”
*OJEU – the Official Journal of the European Union. The publication in which all tenders from the public sector which are valued above a certain financial threshold according to EU legislation must be published.