Partners For Investing In Camden’s Homes Announced

26/06/2008

Thousands of Camden residents are a step closer to having vital improvements made to their homes after the appointment of contractors Apollo Group and Lakehouse as partners for Investing in Camden’s Homes.

A recent survey of council homes found that over half do not meet the government’s Decent Homes standard. The appointment of the contractors to carry out the £413 million programme should see works commencing as soon as this autumn.

The announcement follows a rigorous, two year tendering process and an extensive consultation with tenants and leaseholders on the choice of partners. This included residents’ representatives being given procurement training to sit on the evaluation panel throughout the process. Visits to other areas where the contractors have worked were also carried out.

Both organisations have been awarded five year contracts with the option of a five year extension, split as follows:

• Apollo Group – borough wide mechanical work and decent homes north
• Lakehouse – borough wide electrical work and decent homes south.

The contract agreements are designed to protect the Council against inflation in the building industry. And the long term relationships developed with the partners should improve the quality of work carried out and give better value for money for rent payers and leaseholders.

The works will cover everything from fitting new windows, kitchens and bathrooms to upgrading wiring and heating systems. And to fit with the Council’s sustainability policies wood timber frames will be used rather than UPVC and single glazed windows will be replaced with double glazed wherever possible.

Monitoring panels involving tenants and leaseholders will run for the life of the contract to make sure the quality of work on individual schemes is of a high standard from start to finish.

The appointment of long-term partners to carry out the works will ensure a consistent approach alongside a good degree of flexibility. Close working between the Council and its partners will provide an understanding of the actual cost of the construction projects and drive down those costs wherever it makes sense to do so.

Cllr Chris Naylor, Executive Member for Homes and Housing Strategy, said:

“This is a great step forward in improving the lives of thousands of residents by getting their homes up to a decent standard. Working with these major contractors means we can get on with the job more quickly and our long term relationship will give accountability to residents and help drive the quality of work we expect.”

Rob McGregor, group managing director, Apollo Group, said:

"We are thrilled to be onboard with Camden, who are a very forward-looking authority with a substantial social housing programme. Apollo's experience in delivering planned, capital and responsive works, achieving extremely high levels of resident satisfaction and demonstrable continuous improvement, is well suited to meeting Camden’s objectives.”

Steve Rawlings, chief executive officer of Lakehouse, said:

"Winning this contract, which is core to our business, is great news for us and Camden. We are really looking forward to successfully managing a partnership that will deliver value for the Council and its residents."

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