Orbit has launched a procurement programme worth up to £1.6bn (€1.87bn) to appoint long-term partners for property investment, building safety and compliance work across its housing stock, one of the largest social housing maintenance tenders to reach the market this year and a signal of the scale of regional framework opportunities now open to contractors.

Orbit, headquartered in Coventry, is a housing association managing around 46,000 homes across the Midlands, East and South of England.

The larger procurement is valued at £1.44bn (€1.68bn) including VAT over a maximum 15-year term, split across five regional lots covering component replacements, fire safety and structural remediation, major projects and decarbonisation work, with contracts due to start in April 2028. A second procurement, worth £150m to £200m (€175.5m to €234m) over 10 years, will appoint specialist compliance partners covering fire safety, asbestos management, electrical testing, water hygiene and lift maintenance.

Orbit will run a competitive flexible procedure for the larger programme, initially shortlisting the seven highest-scoring bidders per lot before progressing through tenders, dialogue and negotiation stages to final tenders and presentations.

The shift from Orbit's existing shorter-term contracts to 15-year regional partnerships reflects a wider consolidation under way across social housing maintenance, where landlords are trading flexibility for supply chain stability.

That pressure is visible in the outgoing arrangement: Mears lost the race to renew its existing Orbit contract, worth around £30m a year, after describing the relationship as financially challenging and capital-intensive.

Orbit is running the procurement alongside a separate £255m tender for repairs, maintenance and void refurbishment, and has secured £195m from Lloyds Bank to retrofit its stock toward an EPC Band C rating by 2030.

For contractors, the move to fewer, larger, longer regional lots raises the stakes of framework selection: incumbents face renewed competition for reduced slots, while the extended terms only work if pricing holds up over 15 years, the exact assumption that undid Mears' prior arrangement.

For the sector, Orbit's restructuring points to a broader shift among large landlords toward fewer, deeper contractor relationships built for margin sustainability rather than headline contract value.

Orbit's own framing reinforces the point: chief property and regeneration officer Scott Rutherford has said the organisation wants partners willing to build genuine long-term relationships, investing in skills and supply chains rather than bidding project by project.

Source: Construction News / Inside Housing