HCC Sept 2026 – Provision of Supported Housing at Westbury

Hertfordshire County Council is procuring a delivery partner for a new Supported Housing scheme at Westbury, Letchworth. The project forms part of the Council's wider five-year programme to increase the supply and quality of supported living accommodation for disabled adults and its Extra Care Housing Programme, which aims to provide modern, accessible homes that promote independence and wellbeing for older people who require care and support.

The Council's preferred approach is to work with a Registered Provider that can bring development expertise, long-term ownership and housing management experience, supported by Homes England funding and Registered Provider investment alongside Council resources. The successful partner would develop, own and manage the accommodation on Council-owned land under a long lease arrangement.

The Council is currently undertaking preparatory work on the site and expects to progress design and enabling works during 2025/26, with construction planned from 2026 onwards and completion between 2027 and 2030. Outline planning permission is expected to be secured through North Hertfordshire District Council, with any necessary enabling works undertaken to facilitate delivery of the scheme.

Hertfordshire County Council (the “Council”) is a large shire county in the south-east of England with a population of 1.2 million. Hertfordshire is a two-tier authority with 10 district and borough councils providing complementary local services to residents.

In February 2025, the Council launched a five-year delivery plan to increase the supply and quality of supported living accommodation in Hertfordshire and, in doing so, deliver wider health and wellbeing outcomes to meet the existing and future demand for disabled adults in Hertfordshire by 2030.  The programme responds to current and future demand, including people who currently live in unsuitable existing HCC accommodation, people living with their family who now need a home of their own, people in residential care whose needs could be met in supported living, and people living outside Hertfordshire who wish to return. The Supported Living Delivery Programme is intended to replace outdated accommodation, improve quality and accessibility, support independence, and provide modern homes.

The Council’s Extra Care delivery programme focusses on the provision of modern, accessible homes across the county that support independent living for older people and adults with care needs. By increasing the supply of Extra Care housing, the council aims to meet growing demand, promote well-being and independence, reduce reliance on residential care and ensure residents can remain in their communities while receiving flexible support tailored to their changing needs. The programme is responding to significant demographic growth, with evidence indicating a need for around 8,000 additional Extra care units by 2042, including approximately 1,800 affordable homes.

The Council’s preferred delivery approach is to work with Registered Providers who can bring housing development expertise, long-term ownership and housing management experience. This approach is intended to support delivery at pace while also making use of Homes England funding and Registered Provider investment alongside Council resources. The Council is exploring the best approach to work with developing Registered Providers (both Housing Associations and Local Authorities) (‘RPs’) to deliver, own and manage accommodation on Council owned land via a long lease (virtual freehold).

The Council is currently undertaking preparatory work on the Westbury site which is Council owned with a view to progressing design and enabling works during 2026-27, construction in 2027/28 – 2028/29 and phased completion and handover in 2028–30.

The Council anticipates obtaining outline planning approval for the site via the Local Planning Authority at North Herts District Council and undertaking enabling works where required to bring the site forward.

The Council seeks submissions from a Registered Provider partner to deliver, own and manage supported living accommodation at the Westbury Site.

The successful Tenderer will enter into the following agreements with the Council, together “the Contract”:

Grant Agreement – (note different terms subject to RP Not for Profit or For Profit)

Nominations Agreement

Development Agreement

Lease Agreement

Service Level Agreement

Heads of Terms

Any security documentation as required

In order to receive site- specific documents, Tenderers will be required to sign and return a Non-Disclosure Agreement (“NDA”).

The Council will procure the Contract using the Competitive Flexible Procedure as defined in the Procurement Act 2023, which will allow us to run a multistage procurement process as explained above.

Full details are in the tender document set.

Please sign and return the NDA (included with the document set) via the Portal in order to receive the Pre-Planning Application Documents.

Organisations wishing to take part in this project are invited to 'express an interest' and also 'opt in', which will give access to the full procurement documents in the e-tendering system.

To be considered as a Tenderer you must complete and submit a Tender by the deadline of 12.00 noon on 4 November 2026.

Please allow sufficient time to make your return, as Tender submissions cannot be uploaded and submitted after this return deadline.

Please ensure that where possible documents are uploaded as a PDF unless otherwise requested and that file names are succinct. Any questions relating to this procurement must be made via correspondence on the website, in accordance with the procurement documents, and can be addressed to the main contact as shown in the details above.

Tenderers should be aware that due to the nature of the Services provided, any Contract formed as a result of this procurement process shall be executed as a deed. Tenderers should seek independent legal advice on the implications of this prior to submitting their Tender, where appropriate. Please note that the Contract requirements will be subject to available financial resources, supplier performance and flexibility to meet changing demands.

To access this opportunity please visit in-tendhost.co.uk/supplyhertfordshire/… ↗.

If you are experiencing problems In-Tend offer a help section which includes a dedicated UK support desk which can be contacted via email: [email protected] or Telephone: +44 1144070065 for any website/technical questions, Monday to Friday, 8:30-17:00.

The Council reserves the right at any time to cease the procurement process and not award the Contract or to award only part of the opportunity described in this notice. If the Council takes up this right, then they will not be responsible for or pay the expenses or losses, which may be incurred by any organisation or tenderer as a result.

As per the Procurement Act 2023, the Council reserves the right during the Award phase of this procurement exercise to: - Amend the stages of the Competitive Flexible Procedure where further stages are required to come to a fuller understanding between parties of the scope or requirement or other such necessary elements. Amend the specification - Define or refine sub-weightings, particularly for price if it is not possible to fix costs for significant element(s) of the requirements. – Award the Contract at the conclusion of Stage 2 without the submission of Final Tenders. - Forego the Dialogue Stage and invite Final Tenders from the highest scoring 2 Tenderers at Stage 2 only. -Any amendments will be communicated in full to all Tenderers.

Following the government’s announcement in Parliament on 7 September 2026 and as published in the government’s press release: Review of local government reorganisation launched - GOV.UK, the Local Government Reorganisation process has been paused for Hertfordshire until further notice. The Authority will provide an update to all bidders once there is greater clarity regarding the future position of the LGR proposals as relates to this procurement.