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Large landlord seeks contractors for £1bn major national works push
The Guinness Partnership has kicked off a bid to find contractors for a 15-year programme of major works on its 70,000 homes across England, including fire safety jobs.
The G15 landlord published a contract notice this week laying out its plans for around £1bn of work on its stock.
It includes cladding, sprinkler systems, fire alarms and large reactive repairs. Decarbonisation, sustainability and retrofit jobs, including installing heat pumps, are also included.
Housing associations are facing a shake-up under the new Procurement Act, although the legislation’s introduction has been delayed until February.
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Guinness’s new programme is divided into lots across five regions. These are: the North West and Greater Manchester; Yorkshire, Humberside and the East Midlands; the Home Counties; South East and coast and Greater London; and the South West.
The highest-value lot is for the North West and Greater Manchester, where Guinness is budgeting to spend £320m over the 15 years on the 20,000 properties it owns in the region.
The South East and coast and Greater London is the next-largest value lot, with plans for £260m of work across around 19,000 homes.
Contractors have until 13 December to submit a tender for work.
Nearly a year ago, Guinness increased its presence in the capital by taking on non-compliant, 5,000-home Shepherds Bush Housing Association (SBHA) as a subsidiary.
In a judgement in 2022, the regulator said it had identified “concerns about fire safety reporting and compliance with the Decent Homes Standard” at SBHA. It was downgraded to a G3 for governance.
In September this year, Guinness revealed it had set aside £26.9m in provisions for building safety remediation costs at two leasehold schemes owned by SBHA.
In its full year to the end of March 2024, Guinness also reported £22m of group impairment charges due to rising construction costs, lower sales values and schemes being delayed.
During the year, Guinness said it invested £178.8m in maintaining and improving existing homes, up from £177.2m the previous year.
However, its overall surplus jumped by 75% to £81m after taking into account a boost from acquiring SBHA’s assets, valued at £63m.
London-based Guinness currently has a G1/V2 rating with the regulator.
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