P5372 Retained Development Viability Consultants Framework

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets requires expert consultancies to carry out rigorous independent reviews of Financial Viability Assessments submitted in support of planning applications. Five successfully appointed consultancies will be selected to be retained under a framework contract so they can be expediently appointed under a mini-tendering process when the Council requires expert advice.

The Viability Framework Contract agreement will run for a period of four years. The framework may come to an end earlier if the funding limit of the framework is reached prior to this point.

The Council has secured a maximum of £670,000 to spend against the framework and expects this funding to last for 3-4 years. The Council believes this approach will support the decision making process on planning applications by securing an opinion from professionally accredited consultants (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors - RICS accredited).

This will allow officers at Tower Hamlets to be confident that they have secured the best outcome when making recommendations to Members of Planning Committees and reduce the risk of legal challenge. Consultancies are required to read the supporting documents in full, which sets out the detailed expectations for this Framework Agreement and for the services to be delivered.