As 2024 draws to a close, NPC Frameworx Director, David Miller reflects on the key milestones and looks ahead to 2025.
It’s been another busy year for housing providers, with several developments that are likely to have a long-term impact on how the sector will manage procurement in the future. Despite the launch of the new Procurement Act being postponed until February 2025, there has been little let up for procurement managers, as they assess the likely implications on resources and consider new ways to deliver social value projects that will support residents and their communities.
We began the year with a focus on the latest building safety measures, as housing providers continued to tackle hazards like damp and mould, alongside the introduction of DLUHC’s proposed Competence and Conduct Standard (CCS). With a clear mandate to enforce more stringent accountability procedures to ensure managers are properly qualified to resolve tenant complaints, it will be worth keeping an eye on the potential impact this could have on procurement teams when it comes into force in April 2025.
The Spring also saw SHDF Wave 2.2 awarding around £80m of grant funding, for delivery between 2024 – 2026. This means that as well as aligning contracts and vendor selection processes with the government’s decarbonisation targets, procurement managers also need to demonstrate a willingness to collaborate with stakeholders to seek innovative solutions that won’t blow the budget. In addition, their procurement plans must factor in the right training and accreditation to meet PAS 2035, whether that means supporting suppliers to develop a skilled workforce, or making sure contracts include social value schemes that promote local employment initiatives.
July saw the election and a change in government, with the sector broadly welcoming new proposals like the Great British Energy Bill and Future Homes Standards and as ones to watch, for their impact on tenant satisfaction measures, housing targets, planning and infrastructure.
This was followed in September by the rebranded Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund Wave 3, which emphasised collaboration with housing providers and innovation in sustainable housing solutions. With an additional focus on enhancing supply chain capacity, providers who are ready to scale up and adapt to meet the growing demand for more sustainable housing are likely to thrive as WH:SHF Wave 3 continues to roll out between now and September 2028.
With Rachel Reeves’ first budget allocating £500m to deliver 5,000 additional homes as part of the Affordable Homes Project (AHP), this has huge potential for procurement managers to secure contracts that will meet the housing target by the 2030 deadline. In addition, the £1.3bn allocated for local authority services and £233m assigned to tackle homelessness could have an impact on procurement planning – particularly for housing providers who are working hard to provide temporary accommodation. With the potential for more tender opportunities as local authorities and housing associations come under pressure to meet the government’s house building targets and “Get Britain building again,” it will be interesting to see how procurement managers navigate through the latest policy frameworks to ensure they are fully compliant and financially viable.
Looking ahead to 2025, housing providers will be seeking to partner with providers who can demonstrate a proven track record on building safety, sustainability targets and tenant empowerment. They will also be actively looking to appoint like-minded contractors who are willing to adapt to manage rising costs, implement energy efficiency standards and effect potential legislative changes.
Whilst the delay to the launch of the new Procurement Act has been frustrating, it has allowed the team at Frameworx more time to reflect on how we can better support our clients to ensure they hit the ground running in February. It has also allowed us to consider the key issues around responsible procurement and how to ensure our commitment to social value lives up to expectations.
This has prompted us to ask some important questions about how social value outcomes are measured and by whom. How can housing providers and their suppliers work together more closely to involve residents and who is accountable in the long-term? As a not-for-profit procurement framework created to offer greater choice and better value for social housing providers and their contractors, these are all important questions that are embedded into our core values, and we are confident that our combined expertise puts us in a strong position to offer guidance to our members on how best to tackle the key issues.
As a procurement framework that was set up to create more choice and provide value for money, our goal for 2025 is to offer housing providers access to a wider range of experienced, pre-qualified and innovative supplier partners who are all committed to delivering better homes and communities. Next year, our focus will be on continuing to develop an inclusive platform that welcomes SMEs and local enterprises alongside large organisations, to ensure a level playing field for all.
With the changes to the Procurement Act on the horizon, our latest framework opportunities – DMC Remediation and Soft Facilities Management went live in December, and have performed over and above our expectations in terms of the number of requests to tender we received within a week of launching.
In addition, our reprocured agreements for 2025 range from Responsive Maintenance and Void Property Works to Specialist and Sub-Contractor Services. Each framework has been designed to meet the evolving needs of social housing providers and the team will continue to focus on streamlining the process to provide enhanced value and efficiency.
As we move towards 2025, I am optimistic about the future for NPC Frameworx. With £160million of works procured since we launched in 2022, I have no doubt we will be hitting more significant milestones over the coming months. The team are looking forward to working with more social housing providers and contractors who share our vision to put social value at the heart of everything we do, and we look forward to supporting our members during 2025 and beyond.
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Meet the team at the NHMF Maintenance Conference
The Frameworx team will be attending the NHMF Conference on 21-22 January. Please join us in the Frameworx Lounge to discuss your individual procurement needs or find out more about how we can support your social value strategy.
If you have any specific procurement requirements we can help with, this is a great opportunity to bring client along too! To book a meeting or arrange a conversation, please get in touch with us ahead, or visit the Frameworx Lounge if you would like to connect. We look forward to seeing you there.
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To find out more about how Frameworx can help with your next procurement project, please get in touch with the team.
Author: David Miller, NHMF NPC Frameworx Director
Consultant at Rand Associates, Chair of M3 Housing
David is a quantity surveyor by profession, being a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building, he joined Rand Associates in 1975 and has been involved in the maintenance of social housing for the last 25 years.