Appointment of a Housing Joint Venture Partner

The Council is seeking a private sector partner ("Partner") to work under collaborative partnership arrangements under the terms of a Partnering Agreement, for a period of 10 years, with an option to extend by up to a further period of 5 years, subject to review mechanisms and break options. The Council's aim is to establish a lean, tax efficient joint venture arrangement (the "JV") which shall be set up with the primary aim to pro-actively manage the delivery of high quality housing in line with the Council's housing aspirations and Local Plan for identified sites in the Borough of Burnley.

The activities of the JV in delivering the Council's housing aspirations and Local Plan shall include, but shall not be limited to, master planning, stakeholder engagement, direct development of agreed housing schemes on allotted sites (or the procurement of such development) and the marketing and sales of those units and dwellings. Additional information: During the term of contractual arrangement, the JV may be asked to deliver such other of the Council's wider regeneration plans and ancillary services, as necessary, to accommodate its primary housing and development programmes.

These may include, but are not limited to, commercial, civic, leisure facilities, neighbourhood/ community schemes, provision of community facilities and estate. Bidders should however note that the primary aim of this procurement is to deliver the developments in line with the Council's housing aspirations and Local Plan and therefore no guarantees are provided in relation to the inclusion of the sites or related ancillary services.

Through an agreed JV Business Plan, the JV will co-ordinate and contract with design and construction teams, all necessary third parties and engage all key stakeholders in a transparent way to provide effective and efficient outputs in line with the Council's housing aspirations. The Council's contribution to the JV arrangement will be the land value, which it would expect the partner to match by way of funding the development of each Site.

Site values will be mixed and the JV will be expected to work up a mixture of different sites with different complexities in an appropriate way in order to meet market challenges. The Council expects the JV to investigate any appropriate funding solutions which may assist in achieving its objectives and also put forward options for other potential sites the Council may identify during the Contract Period.

Ultimately the partnership will be required to deliver a quantity of homes on certain sites and it would be for the JV entity, as demonstrated through the JV Business Plan, to maximise the potential of each site. The full scope of the available sites is not yet known but will become clear over the next 18 months as the Local Plan progresses from Preferred Option in June 2016, to publication in December 2016 and adoption later in 2017.

In relation to each identified Site the partner will be required to put forward a phased delivery plan. The JV shall be required to ensure that market conditions are appropriate for the release of the developed units and dwellings to the market.

The JV shall also be required to be mindful of other developments taking place locally to ensure a competitive edge to the developments being undertaken and furthermore, each phased site selection maximises the ability to generate a profitable income to ensure that there is a sufficient subsidy for the lower value and negative equity sites to be developed. A "Bidders Day" briefing will take place at Towneley Hall, Towneley Park, Burnley, Lancashire BB11 3RQ at11:00 am to 1:00 pm on Friday 29th April 2016.

NB the Council will use the competitive procedure with negotiation. An OJEU Notice for this opportunity was issued 22/04/16. 2016-053512