Is Housing Maintenance Procurement Stuck in the Past?

The world is changing across many aspects of public sector procurement, particularly those affecting the built environment. Price and process are no longer the overriding considerations. Value, quality and the human element come increasingly into play.

But how closely is housing maintenance procurement following this trend? Or is caution, fuelled by austerity budgets encouraging authorities to stick with old, familiar ways?

In many other areas of procurement, clients want to look beyond the words and numbers in tender submissions. They want to explore what sort of people they will be working with and what the experience will be like for their own teams and for residents.

They want to get a sense of whether the values and priorities expressed in formal documents are really embedded in everyday culture and behaviours. Above all, they want to understand how teams might react to unexpected events and problems – do they have the skills and resilience to overcome issues, communicate honestly, and keep a focus on improving standards of service delivery?

Interviews, competitive dialogue and behavioural analysis are increasingly used to get to the real story behind the formal tender documents and rehearsed presentations.

The Human Element in Housing Maintenance Procurement

With housing maintenance, these refinements of the procurement process seem less common. There’s less discussion (formal or informal) about outcomes. This is a shame because the human elements are so important when it comes to delivering value, finding cost savings and improving the resident experience. Price and process tell you little, if anything, about any of these.

Quality also takes a back seat, when it should be central to the contract award decision. Outcomes such as building performance, resident convenience and lifetime costs should weigh more heavily than the false economy of mainly cost-based decisions.

To paraphrase a famous quotation, if you keep buying in the same ways you will continue to get the same outcomes. If you want to achieve more with limited budgets and improve the experience for your residents, it’s time to refresh the procurement process. And it’s time to seek out a housing maintenance partner that places great emphasis on human relationships and quality as well as reliability of delivery.

Andy Sharp, Business Development Director – Osborne Property Services