Vacant property utility supply

It is Sheffield City Councils intention to award a contract of up to four years to British Gas Trading Limited. The contract will see British Gas Trading manage and supply utilities to vacant residential properties.

Sheffield City Council requires a direct relationship with the utility supplier and wants to avoid the additional layer of supplier dependency created by the use of a third-party intermediary. The Council would not have a direct contractual or operational relationship with the energy provider, resulting in reduced control, longer communication routes, potential delays in resolving billing and account issues, and less visibility over property and account data.

Given the scale and complexity of Sheffield's void property portfolio, a direct relationship with the utility provider is considered essential to enable timely account management, efficient debt resolution, dispute management and operational responsiveness. A Preliminary market engagement notice was published via YORtender on the 1st April 2026, the notice was published to the Find a Tender Service with the Council not receiving any submissions or responses. As a result, British Gas Trading is believed to be the only company able to fulfil these requirements and therefore, the Council intends to proceed with the award unless valid objection is made during the standstill period.