Information event being held next week

Oxford City Housing is looking contractors interested in helping to deliver more than 2,500 low-carbon homes across Oxfordshire in the next 10 years.

The city council’s housing company is starting the process of establishing a £750m modular construction framework for new housing schemes.

Modular housing

The exact requirements of the houses looking to be built are still to be decided

OCHL aims to acquire and develop 2,245 new homes on sites across Oxfordshire in the next 10 years, with 1,124 of these being homes for social rent and a further 301 shared ownership and other intermediate tenures.

The council and housing company aim to open up the new framework to other social landlords and deliver more than 2,500 homes in total.

The pair are currently looking at four options for delivering sustainable homes: a 40% carbon reduction from 2013 building regulations, a 70% carbon reduction from 2013 building regulations, Passivhaus equivalent standard and zero carbon for regulated and unregulated energy, with a preference for low embodied energy.

OCHL has issued a Prior Information Notice inviting developers to an information event on 15 December.

The aim of the event is for the council and OCHL to update developers on their programme and understand the market options available. The aim is to deliver low carbon homes that can be built more quickly and with fewer defects than via traditional build techniques while controlling costs.

The company then plans to issue pre-qualification questionnaires and an invitation to tender for potential suppliers between January and June 2021.