Housing Removals and Storage

The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is located in south-west London and bordered by Surrey County Council and the London boroughs of Richmond, Sutton, Merton and Wandsworth. Kingston upon Thames has a population of 168,700, with the population steadily rising in recent years, with a predicted increase to 175,600 by 2020. Whilst generally considered an affluent suburb of London, Kingston is a place of contrasts with pockets of poverty, relative poverty and deprivation largely clustered in small areas associated with concentrations of social housing. These areas, situated next to some of the most affluent areas, mean that the differences are more marked than in any of the neighbouring boroughs.
Prospective Contractors should consider that the borough took 347 Homeless Applications were made in 2015/16. It is expected that the rates of homelessness will increase during the life of this contract as a result of changes to welfare benefits and the local housing market and any tenders should factor in a possible rise in the level of work during the life of this contract beyond the current estimates. Prospective Contractors may also wish to note that the Localism Act 2011 allows for councils to discharge their housing duty into accommodation outside of the borough. Whilst the current moving of households outside of the borough is limited, tenders should be submitted in the knowledge that moves outside the borough or neighbouring boroughs will increase during the life of the contract. This contract will include moves anywhere on mainland England, Wales, Scotland,in addition to moves within the borough.
Within the term of the contract the Council is expected to implement a major estate regeneration programme, and also do a one-off move between two office buildings in 2018 as detailed in the tender document. The estimated profiles of moves required under this programme are not confirmed but the reasonable expectation is that 150 moves within a decant programme will be required each year from 2017.
The contract covers removals and storage of personal belongings and items including furniture, for homeless households and other households with whom the Housing Service interacts under a variety of different schemes. The primary client group for this contract currently are households requiring moves as a consequence of estate refurbishment. These households require removal, storage and delivery of their items to either temporary or settled lettings provided by the Council, Housing Association or private landlords. In some circumstances items may be required to be stored subsequently moved to such location as are specified by the Council. Most of the required removals and deliveries will take place in the Kingston Council area; however in a small number of instances these removals and deliveries could be to neighbouring authority areas, Greater London and in some exceptional circumstances anywhere in mainland England, Wales or Scotland. In some exceptional cases contractor will be expected to provide a full packing, unpacking, removal and delivery service to the Council client. The level of removals, delivery and storage is approximately 200 per annum, although this is only an indicative guide and the actual amount of work may be lesser or greater than this estimate amount. Potential Contractors need to consider this when making their submissions as outlined earlier in the document.
The contract term shall be for three years with an option to extend by a further one year plus one year, making a potential contract term of 5 years.