Delivery of Affordable Extra Care Housing Scheme in Bitterne, Southampton

Southampton City Council is seeking interest from suppliers who are interested in developing, constructing, owning and managing (in terms of landlord function) an affordable extra care housing scheme on council owned land, which is to be disposed of for this purpose.

The care and support element for residents is planned to be procured separately, and we anticipate this is an arrangement potential providers will be familiar with. The intention of this PIN is to gauge market feasibility and engage with suppliers to review and update project scope and requirements for tender stage.

Project Location

The proposed site is the site of a de-commissioned residential care home. The site is in Bitterne, on the eastern side of Southampton city, and comprises of 0.6 hectares. The former care home building will require demolishing as part of the redevelopment.

Project Scope

The extra care scheme being sought is

• one for older persons (age requirement likely to be set at 60+)
• one which would allow residents to remain in their flats as they grow older and their physical and/or mental health potentially deteriorates
• one designed such that people with dementia could remain there (so with a dementia friendly layout and design) as opposed to a specialist dementia care scheme or a scheme containing a dedicated dementia cluster, wing or floor.

(A 2022 "Housing with Care Market Position Statement" sets out SCC's future housing with care needs and will be available as part of the Invitation to Tender).

Work undertaken to date

Council architects have undertaken initial feasibility work, based upon a brief which has been compiled, and obtained some pre-application planning advice in respect of scale and massing, which suggests that the site has the potential to accommodate an extra care scheme of circa 40 units, although final numbers remain subject to Planning and a full consent being obtained.

Suppliers meeting

The Council intend to hold a supplier's meeting on Tuesday 05th November 2024, time 10:30-12:30am via Teams prior to publishing the tender opportunity, which is expected to be issued in early December tentatively. Please register your organisation's interest via the online Proactis portal (see contact information for more details) to receive an e-meeting invite for the Premarket engagement.

The Council will share details of location of project site, procurement process, the Council's requirements (which may be updated post supplier engagement), and the feasibility work undertaken to date with attendees at the meeting. The Council is interested to hear potential supplier's views regarding its scheme requirements, provider's thoughts on delivering for social and Affordable Rent and on freehold / leasehold disposals.

Additional information: For further queries or if you need support with Proactis portal login please contact us via Procurement@southampton.gov.uk