Preferred bidder awarded to Regenter for Kirkless Council's Excellent Homes for Life housing PFI project
The Regenter Excellent Homes for Life
Consortium comprising Regenter, Wates Living Space and Pinnacle
Housing has today been announced as preferred bidder for the
Excellent Homes for Life Housing PFI project by Kirklees
Council.
The project includes the new build of about 140 Extra Care homes
for older people in 3 schemes and around 360 one and two bed homes
for small households, with some that are specifically designed for
wheelchair users. The new homes will be built on up to 30 sites
across Kirklees and all General Needs homes will be built to Code
for Sustainable Homes Level 4 - the first PFI of its kind in the
country to be delivering to such a high standard.
Wates Living Space will deliver the construction over a 27 month
construction period with the first homes being delivered within 10
months after financial close. Services will ramp up in accordance
with the construction programme and will continue for 20 years
after construction completion. All services will be delivered by
Pinnacle Housing and will include housing management services,
neighbourhood management, grounds maintenance, caretaking and
cleaning, responsive repairs and maintenance and lifecycle.
Jim Saunders, Managing Director of Regenter said: "We are
delighted that Kirklees Council has appointed us as Preferred
Bidder on this very exciting regeneration project. The delivery of
much needed, new, high quality General Needs homes, combined with
new state of the art Extra Care accommodation, will meet diverse
needs and improve the lives of local people across Kirklees."
Ian Burnett, Managing Director, Wates Living Space said "We are
delighted to be delivering these new homes as part of the Regenter
Excellent Homes for Life Consortium. We look forward to working
with Kirklees Council and the local community not just to deliver
much needed housing but to bring community benefits, investing in
local people and local businesses."
Neil Euesden, Managing Director of Pinnacle commented: "Pinnacle
is very pleased to be part of the successful partnership and looks
forward to working with the Council and local tenants and becoming
part of the local community. This is an exciting project which will
deliver quality homes and essential services for Kirklees'
tenants."
Cllr Pandor, the Council's Cabinet Member responsible for
Strategic Housing, said: "We are delighted that we have reached
this key stage in the process to select a partner to deliver our
'Excellent Homes for Life' project. Everyone understands that
there is a growing demand for affordable housing in the current
economic climate. This project represents a big step in delivering
the Council's goals for affordable housing.
We intend to work closely with Regenter Excellent Homes for Life
and their partners over the coming months to finalise arrangements,
and are very much looking forward to starting construction of the
new homes in early 2011."
David Curtis, regional director for the Homes and Communities
Agency for Yorkshire and the Humber said "The selection of a
preferred bidder is really good news as it brings the delivery of
these homes closer to being built. The mixture of 360 homes and 3
extra care schemes will provide the local community with the
mixture of housing that they need. We are really pleased that the
Private Finance Initiative has helped Kirklees Council develop this
innovative solution to their housing needs."
Financial close is scheduled for the end of 2010 once all
planning applications have been approved. Regenter will have an 80%
equity stake with Wates PFI Investments holding the remaining
20%.
For further information please contact:
Jo Young, Group Communications Manager at Regenter
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7901 3639
