Inspace wins £10m deal to upgrade 7,000 buildings

Inspace Partnerships has signed a 10-year deal with Colchester Borough Council worth £135m to maintain and upgrade its 7,000 unit housing stock and public buildings.

With the contract initially worth £10m per year, the first objective for Inspace Partnerships is to ensure the council gains a two-star Best Value rating in February 2004 to unlock £12m of government funding from April 2004 to achieve the "Decent Homes Standards" for its housing stock.  An additional £23m will be available in future years providing performance levels are achieved. 

The public private partnership involves an innovative 'insourcing' model where all maintenance and repair work as well as programmes to improve the housing stock are carried out by Colchester Borough Council's existing pool of engineers under the management of Inspace Partnerships. 

The appointment of Inspace Partnerships follows a rigorous assessment by the council that included visits to Barnsley and Tower Hamlets where the company is performing a similar role and has delivered demonstrable improvements in performance to tenants.