Public procurement notice: Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Published: 2020-12-04
Buyer: Wychavon District Council
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Negotiated without a prior call for competition
CPV classification: 70111000 | 70210000 | 70330000 | 71540000: Construction management services | 71541000: Construction project management services
Estimated value: 210000 GBP
Award criteria: Lowest price

Technical requirements: Wychavon District Council (the ‘Council’) has identified a housing investment opportunity to help local people to secure rental properties in Offenham. A key corporate priority and promise for the Council is to invest in the construction and completion of at least 15 new houses for private rent. The project in Offenham is for the construction of up to 25 units of which approximately 40 % (c.10units) will be affordable housing (a mixture of social rent and shared ownership).
Rooftop Housing Association (‘Rooftop’) own and control a strip of land which provides access to the site. The Council therefore proposes to work with Rooftop to develop the site. Rooftop will be engaged to undertake project management consultancy services during the development of the site. Rooftop will grant the Council an easement so the Council is able to access the site, which is off Laurel’s Avenue in Offenham. Once the site has been developed, the Council will sell to Rooftop the affordable housing units. The Council will also grant Rooftop a 30 year management lease for the houses for private rent. The Council will own the freehold of the units developed for private rent units and will nominate tenants to Rooftop who will grant Assured Shorthold tenancies of the properties. Rooftop will be responsible for tenancy management, rent collection, and repairs. Rooftop will be paid a management fee calculated as a proportion of the rents charged under the Assured Shorthold tenancies.
The Council considers that the opportunity to develop a site of new houses for private rent in Offenham and the subsequent sale of affordable units and leasing of units for private rent can only be provided to Rooftop because of the protection of exclusive rights. The Council therefore relies on Regulation 32(2)(b)(iii) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
The site being developed is off Laurel’s Avenue and has no highway connection and is land-locked by a number of adjoining landowners (the ‘Site’). Having considered other potential alternatives, the Council have concluded they are only able to access the Site through a piece of land owned by Rooftop (the ‘Access Strip’). Rooftop have exclusive rights over the Access Strip.
The Council consider that there is no other reasonable alternative or substitute to providing Rooftop with the contracts for this development for the following reasons:
1) The development must go on the piece of land identified. At present, this is the only viable site for the development which meets the Council’s requirements. Due to cost implications, the Council needs to use a piece of land which they already own. The Council own a second potential site in Broadway but this is much larger, is partly owned by the local Football Club and is unlikely to be available for the development of units for private rent for a further 2 – 3 years.
2) As the site is landlocked, there is no other viable access. To gain access through the Access Strip, parking spaces will need to be removed and relocated and there will need to be an adjustment to boundaries. By contrast, in order to gain access through the other adjoining ownerships, existing properties would need to be demolished. This would be much more expensive compared to being granted access through the Access Strip. There is also a private road which could provide access if subject to a CPO. However, the road would need to be widened in order to be used and this would require acquiring additional land from 4 to 6 adjoining property owners. As such, this is not a viable option.
3) Rooftop will not grant access via the Access Strip unless they are awarded the opportunity to both the development of the Site and subsequent purchasing and leasing arrangement. The cost of acquiring an easement without their co-operation would result in the site value increasing by approximately a third, which would be cost prohibitive.
4) The Council is unable to achieve its objective by exercising CPO powers. In principle, the Council could exercise a CPO to gain access. However, the Council would have to purchase additional land which would again be cost prohibitive.
The Council has concluded that the absence of competition is not the result of an artificial narrowing down of the parameters of the procurement. Therefore, the Council considers that use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a call for competition in the OJEU is justified because of the protection of exclusive rights.


Winner: Rooftop Housing Association Ltd
Award value: 210000