Babergh District Council and Mid Suffolk District Council are jointly procuring contractors to deliver kitchen and bathroom refurbishment works across their housing stock. The procurement has an estimated value of £60 million excluding VAT, or £72 million including VAT, and is divided into one geographic lot for each district.
This opportunity is best suited to housing refurbishment contractors that can deliver repeat works in occupied homes, not simply businesses that supply kitchens, bathrooms or individual trades. Bidders will need to combine installation quality with resident care, programme control and reliable multi-site mobilisation. To assess whether your experience is a good match, contact Thornton & Lowe.
Lot structure and procurement process
- Lot 1: Kitchen and bathroom works for Babergh District Council.
- Lot 2: Kitchen and bathroom works for Mid Suffolk District Council.
Suppliers may assess one or both lots based on their geographic coverage and operational capacity. The councils are using a competitive flexible procedure, with requests to participate due before the later tender stage. The published evaluation split is 60% quality, 30% price and 10% social value.
What type of supplier is likely to compete well?
Strong bidders are likely to have established experience delivering planned kitchen and bathroom programmes for councils, housing associations or other large residential landlords. They should be able to demonstrate a repeatable process from survey and design through to resident communication, strip-out, installation, quality inspection and handover.
Experience in occupied properties will be particularly important. The bid should explain how vulnerable residents, missed appointments, access issues, temporary loss of facilities, safeguarding concerns and complaints will be managed without creating avoidable delay.
Likely quality priorities
- Resident journey: clear appointments, accessible communications, respectful conduct and effective issue resolution.
- Programme management: survey validation, resource scheduling, material availability and recovery planning.
- Quality assurance: standard specifications, trade supervision, inspection points, snagging and right-first-time measures.
- Supply-chain resilience: dependable access to units, sanitaryware, fittings and replacement products.
- Health and safety: asbestos awareness, electrical and plumbing controls, site protection and safe working in homes.
Social value carries a specific weighting, so commitments should relate to the contract area and delivery model. Our guide to social value in tenders explains how to move from broad promises to measurable local outcomes.
Dates and bid preparation
The notice gives an enquiry deadline of 24 August 2026 at 12:00pm and a deadline for requests to participate of 7 September 2026 at 12:00pm. The councils estimate an award decision on 30 September 2026. Check the official notice and the Suffolk Sourcing portal for all documents, amendments and final instructions.
Before submission, bidders should test the capacity behind their proposed installation volumes, confirm labour and supply-chain assumptions, and make sure case studies include resident-satisfaction and defect-performance evidence rather than only contract values.
Thornton & Lowe can support your participation response and later tender submission, from compliance planning to writing and review. Talk to our housing bid specialists.
