Carillion, Babcock and Kier on the list for housing services contract

Three bidders have been shortlisted by the Ministry of Defence for a £1.5bn contract to provide the British Armed Forces and their families with housing services.

The National Housing Prime, which starts in 2013, involves the repair and maintenance of more than 49,000 UK military homes, grounds maintenance, and housing construction projects with an individual value of up to £3.93m.

The bidders, shortlisted by MoD property arm the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), are:

• Carillion and Enterprise Managed Services
• Babcock Support Services
• Kier and Turner Facilities Management

DIO’s Next Generation Estate Contracts team plans to hold “competitive dialogue” discussions with the three bidders.

Colonel Bill Morris, the DIO’s contract project manager, said: “This opportunity has attracted a huge span of businesses of differing sizes and specialisations, and I am delighted that we now have three experienced organisations selected to proceed to competitive dialogue for this prime contract.

“These contractors now need to build a healthy and competitive supply chain involving a range of enterprises to deliver the housing service to military families.”

It is expected that the contract will be awarded in late 2012, and run from April 2013 for five years, with the option to extend it by a further five years.

It will replace the current housing contract for England and Wales and the separate arrangements for provision of housing in Scotland and Northern Ireland.