Flexible Framework Agreement for the Procurement and Management of Nightly Purchased Accommodation - September 2025

Descriptions

Islington Council is re-opening its flexible framework agreement for the procurement and management of nightly purchased accommodation. We invite suitable expressions of interest from suppliers interested in working alongside us to deliver this essential service.

Background

The Council had 1,128 homeless households living in temporary accommodation as of 30 September 2023. The purpose of the service is to ensure homeless clients are housed in suitable, good quality, secure and safe accommodation that meets the standards as set out in in the procurement documentation. Clients will be supported to participate and engage/re-engage with the community, tackle worklessness and contribute to the local community.

The requirement

To ensure the provision of nightly purchased accommodation can match the demands of the Housing Needs service and promote the provision of high-quality accommodation for the residents of Islington.

The Council has a statutory duty towards under the homelessness legislation as laid down in the 1985 and 1996 Housing Acts and the 2017 Homelessness Reduction Act. The ready supply of accommodation will also allow the Council to fulfil its duties under the Care Act and Children’s Act, and offering temporary accommodation to clients who have No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF).

Providers will be responsible for delivering the supply of properties that are local to Islington. For the purpose of this contract opportunity, the Council defines a local property as a property that is:
• in the borough of Islington;
• located in a neighbouring borough i.e. Hackney, Camden, Haringey; and/or
• is accessible to Islington via public transport with a journey time no longer than one hour.

Our mission is to create a more equal Islington, where everyone who lives here has the opportunity and an equal chance to thrive. We are all at the heart of driving this forward. But it’s not just what we do, it’s the way that we do it. This is underpinned by four values which spell out ‘CARE’ and represent what we think public service is all about: being Collaborative, Ambitious, Resourceful and Empowering.

This service supports the Council’s objectives to:
• support people experiencing homelessness
• reduce rough sleeping in the borough
• ensure decent and safe accommodation
• challenge inequality

There is no maximum number of providers that will be party to the framework agreement. Call-off contracts from the framework agreement shall follow the terms of the framework agreement including how a call-off contract is concluded. How a call-off contract is concluded is explained within the procurement documentation.

Lots

This framework agreement is not being split into lots as the Council’s sole requirement is for providers of nightly purchased accommodation.

TUPE [Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations]

TUPE does not apply to this contract opportunity.

Term of the Framework Agreement

This procurement is for the reopening of the framework agreement. The framework agreement started on 3 July 2025 and will be operational for forty eight (48) months with the provision to extend on one or more occasions not exceeding a further twenty four (24) months in total. New providers who apply and are successful will be added to the framework agreement on these terms.

Call-off contracts and placements from this framework may last longer than the framework itself. The framework agreement will also contain provision allowing the Council to terminate any time on notice either with or without the mutual termination of any call-off contracts entered into prior to termination.

Value of the Framework Agreement

The estimated value of the nightly purchased temporary accommodation contracts that may be awarded by the Council under the framework agreement is estimated at between £0 and £60m over the maximum duration of the framework agreement.

The Council will be under no obligation to utilise the framework agreement. No guarantee is given towards volume or value of work under this framework agreement.

Procurement Process

The procurement will be conducted in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (the PCR). The procurement is subject to the ‘light-touch regime’ under Section 7 Social and Other Specific Services of Part 2 of the PCR. Under Regulation 76 the Council is free to establish its own procurement procedure, provided that the procedure is sufficient to ensure compliance with the principles of transparency and equal treatment of economic operators (service providers) and is initiated by a contract notice.

The process that has been developed for this procurement considers the unique nature of this market and has been designed so as to fully utilise the flexibility provided by the services falling within the ‘light-touch regime’.

Further details are available in the procurement documents.