First Choice Oldham puts £90m of work out to tender

First Choice Homes Oldham, the organisation which will become responsible for almost 12,000 homes in the area from January 17 next year, has issued a tender for £90.7m worth of works for the upkeep, maintenance and renewal of the estate.

First Choice Homes Oldham has existed as an organisation responsible for managing the upkeep of homes in Oldham since 2002 but it has only become directly responsible for the state following a major stock transfer agreed earlier this year.

The contracts are for a four-year programme of works and have been subdivided into several packages – including a £66m contract to replace kitchens, bathrooms, heating  and electrical systems, a £15m lot to handle external improvements to homes and communal areas and a £3.7m lot to handle window and door replacements across the estate.

The Chadderton-based company said that it envisages that the work will be handled by between 30 and 48 separate companies. Information and documents relating to the bid process can be found at online tendering service thechest.nwce.gov.uk. Tenders or requests to participate from firms which meet its pre-qualifying criteria need to be received by January 12 2011.