St Albans City & District Council has appointed Morgan Sindall Property Services to fix up its stock of 4,800 homes.
The contract runs from April 2019 to 2024, with an option to extend it for a further 10 years to 2034. If it runs the full 15 years, it will be worth in the region of £90m to Morgan Sindall.
The contract includes repairs and planned maintenance works as well as the management of empty properties and council-owned garages. Around 12,000 repairs are carried out every year.
The council began a review of the service 18 months ago and decided to switch to a price-per-property contract. This means that the council is no longer charged for each time a repair is carried out. Instead, it pays a fixed annual fee for each property, giving certainty over the cost of repair bills.
Councillor Brian Ellis, portfolio holder for housing and inclusion, said that the council already has good working relations with Morgan Sindall as another company in the group, Lovell, is currently building a small housing estate of 10 new properties on the site of the former St Albans Museum for the council.
“As our new repairs and maintenance contractor, their experience and expertise should result in some financial savings for the council and a better service for our tenants,” he said.
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
