Right to Buy Agents Service - Pre Tender Market Engagement

The purpose of this market engagement is to:

• Give advance notice that the Authority will be looking for a Potential Supplier to provide the Right to Buy Agent Service from August 2017-August 2020.

• Provide the market with an opportunity to ask questions, raise queries and any issues to be addressed at an early stage.

Introduction:

The Right to Buy Agent Service is essentially a customer service centre for tenants of social housing and their landlords (local authorities and housing associations). The Agents are required to:

The complexity of home buying can put people off going through the process, and social tenants looking to exercise their Right to Buy do not have the benefit of an estate agent to guide them. To overcome this and to ensure that every eligible tenant knows about the Right to Buy and how to go through the process of buying their property, a Government funded Agent Service was set up in 2014. This helpline and free-to-tenants support service provides proactive help to any public sector tenant (of both local authorities and housing associations) wishing to understand more about the Right to Buy and to assist them if they choose to apply. Tenants are not required to use the service. More details on the current service provided can be found at: http://righttobuy.communities.gov.uk/.

Further information can be found in the attached PTME document, and the market is encouraged to respond to the questions contained within it.

Responses to the questions should be submitted by email to tim.lundy@communities.gsi.gov.uk by 17:00 GMT, 9th March 2017