Six in line for Barking & Dagenham housing deal

Six contractors are in the frame to undertake the housing aspect of three framework packages being rolled out by the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham and potentially worth £500m in total.

The contractors the council has recommended for the housing framework are Apollo, Balfour Beatty, Breyer, Higgins, Makers and United House.

Consultations are now underway with leaseholders before the awards can be finalised.

The deal will involve the refurbishment, improvement and repair of some ex-council houses now owned on leasehold, as well as those still owned by the council.

The council is now in the final stages of choosing firms to deliver its entire construction-based capital programme. The grand plan is to let two other framework deals (civil engineering and highways and for educational and public buildings), as well as the housing project.

The intention is for the framework agreements to run for four years. But contracts may be awarded initially for three years and be worth a total of £125m a year, with an option to extend by a further year.