Four vie for £100m North London homes deal

Four rivals are vying to home in on a housing deal in north London, worth up to £100m.

The line-up for the Brent Housing Partnership (BHP) scheme is understood to consist of London-based specialist contractors Higgins, Durkan, Apollo and Hill Partnerships.

It is expected that BHP will choose the winner of the contest within the next few weeks.

The scheme goes under the banner of the housing development joint venture and will be let as a framework deal with a single contractor.

The aim of the exercise is for BHP to bring a joint venture partner on board so that both parties can bid in tandem for housing development opportunities, predominantly in the Borough of Brent.

The appointed contractor will be expected to fund the initial cost of constructing the new homes and to design and build the properties, which BHP will expect to purchase and then manage upon completion.

The new homes will be built on sites advertised by Brent Council and on the open market.

A council source said: "The number of homes to be built will of course depend on which sites the joint venture succeeds in bidding for.

"The properties will be a mix of flats and individual homes, with the cast majority for rent, although a very small number will be up for sale."

The framework agreement with the winning contractor will run for four years.

BHP is an arm's length management organisation, currently looking after 13,600 council properties.