Mansell and Higgins await decision on £100m Lambeth housing deal

The race for a delayed £100m PFI social housing deal in one of London's most deprived areas has narrowed to two contestants.

It is understood that Create Homes (Mansell Construction/Sanctuary Housing Association/Balfour Beatty Capital) and Regenter (Higgins Construction/Pinnacle Housing Group) will fight it out for the mixed new build and refurb scheme on the 1970s-built Myatts Field North estate in Lambeth.

Lambeth council has slammed the door on Partners for Improvement in Lambeth (United House/Barratt Homes/Servite House Housing Association).

The original plan was to have a preferred bidder on board by spring 2008, with work starting on site soon after. But a rejigged progamme puts the scheme back by about 18 months, with a winner not now expected to surface until next September.

A source said: "The complicated planning process surrounding the project is to blame," and added that the final selection "won't be easy because Lambeth is looking at two high-quality bids."

The scheme includes demolishing and replacing 302 homes that have not benefited from any significant investment in recent years and to build 198 new homes. Other units on the estate will be refurbished.

The project will also deliver a new and relocated park, with early phases of the new-build housing constructed on the former park site. A new community centre to replace the present tenants' hall will also be built.