HCA Invites Bids for £5bn Worth Of Work

The Homes and Communities Agency has opened bidding for a £5bn series of housing frameworks in advance of a new strategy for the sale of public sector land.  The HCA has decided to re-tender rather than extend its Delivery Partner Panel (DPP), which was set up in January 2010 and due to run out at the start of 2013, through which plans for around 24,000 homes have been procured.  Richard Hill, director of investment at the HCA, said the decision had been taken to re-procure the framework because of the government’s focus on using surplus public sector land to help boost housebuilding.  The Pre-qualification Questionnaire comes in advance of the HCA’s publication of a revised land disposal strategy, expected in April, which is set to identify the public sector sites due to be sold to developers in the next 12 months.  It will also highlight sites earmarked for sale to developers in 2013/14 and 2014/15. The government has pledged to see 100,000 homes built on public sector land over the next four years, with the HCA given a role specifically to sell former regional development agency sites.  Read more on the Building website.