Oldham Forwards Two for Social Housing Project
9 Sep 2008
Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council (MBC) last week brought forward two consortia to submit final bids for its “Gateway to Oldham” social housing project. The two consortia are Solutions for Oldham and Inspiral. An Inspirit consortium did not make the next stage of the procurement process.
Solutions for Oldham comprises Contour Housing, Cruden Group and Roland Bardsley, a local construction firm.
Inspiral is comprised of Regenter, Manchester Methodist Housing Association and ROK Property.
Timeline
The two cosortia are expected to submit their final offers by the end of February, according to Oldham MBC, with a preferred bidder expected to be announced the following month. Financial close has been targeted for July.
Project Details
The project will involve the selective demolition and replacement/ refurbishment of council housing on three estates located on routes (‘gateways’) into Oldham over a 25-year (or less) concession period. Around 300 properties on the three estates require demolition, with approximately 350 to 400 other properties requiring refurbishment.
The scheme will see the construction of between 300 and 350 new properties for rent, as well as community facilities. The chosen contractor will be required to provide on-going maintenance and lifecycle services and housing management services to all or some of the properties for a contract period of around 25 years or less. The Council’s Outline Business Case has been granted £131m in PFI credits. Oldham MBC's advisors are PwC (financial), Addleshaw Goddard (legal) and Holbrow Brookes (technical).