Purpose

In March 2026, Executive gave its approval for us to engage in MHCLG’s Round Four grant funding programme, known as the Local Authority Housing Fund R4 (LAHF R4). This involves purchasing ten street properties and undertaking the necessary refurbishment, and letting six of these properties as Temporary Accommodation, and four as resettlement properties for specified refugee cohorts from Afghanistan.

Following the Executive approval, consultation was undertaken in March 2026 with relevant Portfolio Holders and officers, and delegated authority was issued in April 2026 by the Head of Housing and Intervention for a range of activities relating to the project.

Further to this delegation, a formal procurement process has been undertaken via Pagabo’s Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS), in accordance with public procurement requirements, to appoint two contractors to carry out refurbishment works to properties purchased under the LAHF R4 programme. Tenders were received and evaluated from a total of four contractors, and the successful contractors have been identified for appointment and contract award. Quality submissions were reviewed by an internal RBBC panel of assessors, and the commercial/financial submissions evaluated by Modus Construction Consultants (RBBC’s appointed contract administrator).

The contract term expires on 31st March 2027 with the right for the Council to extend the contract for a further period of up to one year (at East Surrey Council’s discretion).

A summary of the results is below:
Contractor Quality Score Pricing Score Total Percentage Rank
Contractor B 35.20% 51.78% 86.98% 1
Contractor A 36.80% 48.82% 85.62% 2
Contractor D 23.60% 60.00% 83.60% 3
Contractor C 25.60% 52.45% 78.05% 4

Consultation:
Under the Executive approval granted in March 2026, the Head of Housing and Intervention is authorised further to consultation with the:
• Chief Finance Officer,
• Strategic Head of Legal & Governance,
• Executive Member for Finance, Assets & Governance
• Executive Member for Housing & Support

To:
• Appoint and enter into contracts as required with, consultants, suppliers and builders.

Each contract will be capped at a maximum value of £300,000. This figure represents the maximum potential contract value only and does not constitute a commitment by the Council to spend the full amount. As the potential maximum value of each contract exceeds £250,000, the decision is treated as a key executive decision under the Council’s Constitution and the completed delegated decision form will be submitted to Democratic Services for publication.

Decision

To appoint and enter into contracts with:

• Madison Brook (Construction) Limited, and
• Re-Gen (UK) Construction Ltd

Following a formal procurement process undertaken via Pagabo’s Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) and in accordance with public procurement requirements, to carry out refurbishment works to properties purchased under the LAHF R4 programme, under JCT Measured Term Contracts, with each contract capped at a maximum value of £300,000.

The contractors recommended for appointment were evaluated against the published tender criteria and submitted the most economically advantageous tenders. This capped value is an upper limit only and does not commit the Council to spend the full amount with either contractor. Any expenditure under the contracts will be instructed only as required via individual orders/call-offs, and will be contained within the approved LAHF R4 programme budget. The appointments and contracts are subject to completion of any required legal and procurement formalities.

Reasons for decision:
These actions are required to ensure that refurbishment contractors are in place to undertake works to properties already acquired under the LAHF R4 programme, as well as those due to be acquired as part of the remaining programme delivery. This will enable RBBC to maintain momentum in delivering the programme, progress refurbishment works without delay and meet its commitments under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with MHCLG. The two contractors are recommended for appointment further to a compliant procurement process.

Alternative options considered

The Council could commission the works through its existing term maintenance contractors. However, this option is not recommended as contractor capacity cannot be guaranteed at the scale and pace required for the LAHF R4 programme. Reliance on existing contractors may result in delays to refurbishment works and could divert resources from the delivery of statutory and operational maintenance activities across the Council's wider estate.