LOCARLA

Social Housing RMI Business Intelligence & other stuff

Blessed are the cheesemakers! Our hearts are full. We welcomed our beautiful child, Locarla Bid Assistant (a bit of a mouthful), into the world on Tuesday. Both software and development team are doing great.

For the past 18 months we have been building an AI thing, it is bonkers complicated but ultimately it will answer the question you all want to ask our data ‘How do I make more money?’. That is still about 6 months off, so in the meantime we wanted to show you what we have learnt in the process.

If you have access to our contract data, then you now have access to our AI Bid Assistant via ‘My Notices’. Stay calm people, it’s powerful, but not difficult to use once you get the hang of it. We have included it in your licence for free, but please don’t start calling Amy asking questions, as she doesn’t know the answers. If you want training, it’s £250ph. Alternatively, just read the help notes in this Monthly and learn as you go, you can’t break it.

We are a broad church and don’t discriminate, if you are a Tenders Direct, Contracts Advance, Focal Research or Tracker client then consider us an AI bid writer with a few optional extras. All for the price of a coffee, and another two coffees, and possibly a biscuit, per day ‐ https://www.locarla.com/pricing
More on the AI BA below.

“Is that all you’ve got for us this month, Gaz?”
No, it jolly well isn’t.
Hands up who is interested in Tenant Satisfaction Measures?
Well, have we got a treat in store for you two. Repairs satisfaction is up! Admittedly by only 2% across the board but considering it’s being heading south since 2020 this is great news. We have the full report, stats, and a magic painting like what they used to have in Rupert the Bear annuals.
Enjoy the July issue, you lucky bunch.

‘Blue links‘ for all and ‘green links‘ are behind login so dependent on your licence.

Welcome, welcome, one and all.

Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) 2025

The team have done a blinder and collected, stripped and databased (and then been fired as AI can do their jobs quicker), over 290 TSM reports.
This is the breakdown:

Notable Overall Observations

Our latest analysis of 2025 Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) reveals key trends and performance gaps across the UK social housing sector:
• Housing Associations continue to outpace Local Authorities in tenant satisfaction ‐ particularly in tenant engagement, complaints handling, and neighbourhood contribution ‐ with performance gaps widening by up to 6‐10 percentage points year‐on‐year.
• A significant perception gap around “Home is Safe” persists: despite compliance levels averaging 98.9%, tenants report feeling only 74.5% safe ‐ a 24‐point gap highlighting that compliance alone doesn’t guarantee reassurance.
• Repairs satisfaction correlates closely with landlord size: providers managing under 10k homes show 8‐12 points higher satisfaction than those above 50k, exposing scalability issues in service delivery.
• Local Authorities are under growing pressure on responsiveness and tenant communication, while Housing Associations have made marked improvements ‐ up to 7 points in some key metrics.

Instead of charging for this report we would like you to buy a copy of The Big Issue next time you’re out, or, if you live in a rural area take in an injured bird, or bee. If you live somewhere with no Big Issue sellers or injured birds/bees, do something nice to someone today.

Locarla’s TSM 2025 Report

It’s all News to me!

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Awaab’s Law will let tenants hold social landlords accountable for delays in fixing serious hazards, with a flexible ‘test and learn’ rollout to ensure urgent repairs are made swiftly. Source: GOV.UK

The new National Housing Bank will channel £16bn in public funds to help build over 500,000 homes, unlocking £53bn in private investment. Source: GOV.UK

Stonewater is in talks with Porthove Housing Association and the Rotary Club of Hove Housing Society to take on 97 homes. Source: Stonewater. Choice Group has completed a merger with Connswater Homes, adding over 13,300 homes to its portfolio. Source: News Letter. Cheshire West and Chester Council will bring council housing services back in-house following tenant consultation. Source: Cheshire West and Chester Council, while West Northamptonshire Council will consult tenants on taking back control of social housing from Northamptonshire Partnership Homes. Source: West Northamptonshire Council

The Regulator of Social Housing has downgraded Anchor Hanover Group to G3 for governance issues and Sustain (UK) Ltd to V3 for financial viability concerns. Phoenix Community Housing is under review, while First Garden Cities Homes and Southway Housing Trust received G2/V2/C2 ratings. Pickering and Ferens Homes retained top marks. Source: GOV.UK, GOV.UK

Homes England, Aviva, Moda, NatWest, and WMCA have agreed a £200m deal to deliver 1,000 rental homes in Digbeth, Birmingham. Separately, Homes England has loaned £8m to Greencore Homes to support sustainable affordable housing in Oxfordshire. Source: GOV.UK, GOV.UK

Gateshead Council has begun seeking contractors for a £1.5m energy efficiency upgrade to local homes. Source: Chronicle Live. Bolton Council is also searching for a development partner to lead the flagship redevelopment of Crompton Place. Source: Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council. Meanwhile, Bromford has agreed a deal with Taylor Wimpey to deliver over 200 affordable homes in Bromsgrove. Source: Bromford Housing Association Limited

Sureserve Group will complete its £56.4m acquisition of Kinovo after court approval and has expanded in the UK renewables sector by acquiring Photon Project Management to boost retrofit and energy efficiency services. Source: Construction Wave, Construction Wave

In April 2025, construction firms accounted for 15.7% of all insolvencies in England and Wales, with 324 registered businesses becoming insolvent, according to the Insolvency Service. Source: BCIS

Reforms to the Building Safety Regulator, with new leadership and investment, aim to accelerate housebuilding. Meanwhile, seven major housebuilders will contribute £100m to affordable housing after a CMA probe into data-sharing practices. Source: GOV.UK, GOV.UK

UK construction saw mixed results in May 2025, planning approvals rose 47% year-on-year, project starts were up 21% on the previous quarter, but main contract awards fell 16%. Source: Construction News. Arcadis notes the sector is recovering faster than the wider economy. Source: The Construction Index, while Mace warns of delays in major project delivery. Source: Construction News (register). Meanwhile, over £2bn in Build to Rent assets are under offer. Source: CBRE

Over 2,000 premises breach fire regulations annually (NFCC). Source: Housing Executive. 5,176 buildings over 11m have unsafe cladding as of May 2025. Source: GOV.UK. Meanwhile, the Warm Home Discount gave £150 to 3.22m households in 2024/25. Source: GOV.UK. Across SHDF Waves 1-2.2, 78,200 energy-saving measures were installed in 39,100 homes. Source: GOV.UK, while HUG 2 funded 21,100 upgrades in 11,500 households. Source: GOV.UK. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme saw 83,664 voucher applications, mostly for air source heat pumps. Source: GOV.UK. As of April 2025, GBIS delivered 80,600 measures to 63,400 homes. Source: GOV.UK, while ECO installed 4.2m measures in 2.5m homes. Source: GOV.UK

Tenant satisfaction is rising among social landlords, though experts say 90% satisfaction is unrealistic without long-term efforts. Source: Housing Digital. The UK faces a 6.5m home shortfall. Source: Centre for Policy Studies, and 3.5m homes are classed as non-decent, affecting 7.5m people. Source: Centre for Ageing Better

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AI Bid Assistant

We’ve built this AI tool that can unpack tender packs, extract questions, and then answer them. It’s very powerful and can build bid answers in seconds, but those answers need to be grounded in fact.

A chef can make magic with whatever’s in your fridge ‒ but only if you show them what you’ve got.

We can process the whole tender pack, extract the questions from the bid documents, we can also add context from Locarla data such as the client download sheet, current contracts, and any other relevant information.
But what we can’t do is write like you, and we don’t have your knowledge. Without your previous bids (preferably scored), knowledge / answer bank, case studies, annual report, financial statements, accreditations, policy statements … I could go on, the answers will not have your personality, style, and experience.

Introducing Locarla’s AI Bid Assistant ‐ PDF

Show me the money!

A PDF guide to contract management on Locarla.

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Power Moves in Procurement: Top UK Social Housing Tenders this Month. From regeneration giants to essential maintenance, explore the tenders shaping the UK housing sector.

A monumental opportunity emerges as Crown Commercial Service launches a £120bn PIN ‐ Facilities Management and Security Services framework. Spanning 96 months, it covers Total FM, Hard FM, Soft FM, and comprehensive security services across UK public sector bodies.

Driving large-scale regeneration, Brent London Borough seeks a partner for its £1bn Single Delivery Partner South Kilburn Regeneration Programme, aiming to deliver 1,600 homes and vital infrastructure over a potential 20‐year term.

Fuelling construction supply chains, North East Procurement Organisation (NEPO) unveils a £225m, 96‐month framework for Aggregates, Concrete & Pre‐Cast Products ‐ NEPO222, offering over 214 lots across North East and Yorkshire.

Meeting future care needs, Cornwall Council is investing £220m through the Extra Care Development Framework to deliver supported housing schemes aligned with its long-term strategy.

Boosting safety and security, Clackmannanshire Council launches a £126.6m Common Area Secure Door Entry & CCTV Replacement 2025 ‐ 2028 contract, spanning rewiring, CCTV, and Secure by Design upgrades.

Laying the groundwork for a new framework, ESPO (Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation) seeks early input on its £83.3m PIN ‐ Provision of Security Services ‐ 347_26, covering site guarding, mobile patrols, and carbon‐conscious delivery.

Advancing estate renewal, Clarion Housing Group opens bidding for £79m Dyecoats Blocks 1 & 3, Leeds ‐ Contractor Procurement DN0084, part of its strategic housing regeneration in Yorkshire.

Setting the stage for long‐term maintenance, Bromford Flagship Ltd prepares a £60m, 63-month PIN ‐ Building Maintenance Contract across multiple regions, spanning responsive and specialist repairs.

Raising the bar on decent homes, Ashfield District Council is offering a £55m Housing Refurbishment Contract for full-scale property upgrades over three years. From kitchens and heating to roofing and insulation, one supplier will deliver it all ‐ with no room for partial bids.

Enhancing urban security, Hackney London Borough announces a £30.2m Security Services Framework (Concierge, Vacant Premises, Estates, Events and Similar) with two specialist lots starting in 2026.

Maintaining green spaces, Windsor & Maidenhead Royal Borough tenders a £28.4m, 66‐month Grounds Maintenance Services contract covering parks, cemeteries, and handyman tasks.

Championing energy upgrades, Cambridge City Council issues a £25m PIN ‐ Energy Efficiency and Planned Maintenance Works for Council Homes, targeting retrofits, renewables, and insulation under PAS 2035.

Prioritising fire safety, CURO seeks two contractors for a £15.5m, 36-month Provision of Passive Fire Safety Works V2, focusing on fire door works and fire stopping.

Investing in estate upgrades, Industrial Dwellings Society Ltd offers a £12.5m, 30-month contract for Whole Estate Improvement Works at Stepney Green Court, Navarino Mansions and Mocatta House, covering roofs, windows, and external repairs.

Delivering essential upgrades, Connexus Homes Ltd launches a £12.3m, 24-month Major Asset Works Framework 2025, addressing damp, M&E, roofing, and accessibility improvements across the West Midlands.

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The Other League Tables

Along with our main monthly league tables, ❲see below❳, we also produce tables based on the following trades: Retrofit, Asbestos Survey, Fire Risk Assessment, Water/Legionella & Stock Condition Survey. ❲Premium Clients, click here for the PDF❳

Top of the league in each table are ….

Retrofit:

Wates Group

Asbestos Survey:

Tersus Consultancy

Fire Risk Assessment:

Frankham Consultancy Group

Stock Condition Surveys:

Savills (UK)

Water / Legionella:

Aquatrust Water & Ventilation

June League Tables

Built Environment Contracts

The trades we cover; Responsive Repair, Planned Works (Kitchen/Bathrooms & Doors/Windows), Gas Servicing/Central Heating, Voids, Fire Safety & Roofing.