Notting Hill Housing has appointed Lovell Respond to deliver reactive maintenance works to part of its portfolio of properties across London.
The contract, which is worth £10 million over a five-year period, will see Lovell Respond provide a repairs service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year until 2016 to 8,000 leasehold, market rent, temporary housing and supported housing properties.
Simon Medler, Managing Director at Lovell Respond, said:
"London is a key area for us, and we are thrilled to have been appointed by Notting Hill Housing to work on such a vast portfolio of homes. Local residents are of paramount importance to us, and we will be working closely with the local community throughout the works."
Lovell Respond provides property repair and maintenance services for more than 100,000 homes across the UK. It has carried out over 250,000 repairs and undertaken gas servicing for over 30,000 properties within the last year.
Symphony Housing Group has awarded repair and maintenance contracts worth more than £43 million to 15 Merseyside firms.
More than 80 companies bid for the work in a competitive tendering process run by the Group, whose housing associations include Liverpool Housing Trust and Cobalt Housing.
Fifteen Merseyside firms beat off the competition to land four years worth of repairs and maintenance work in homes across Merseyside, Cheshire and Lancashire.
Tenants were involved in interviewing and assessing the companies which will look after their homes until August 2015. They also helped draw up the ten service commitments that companies tendering for the work were required to satisfy.
Symphony spokesperson Ann-Louise Gilmore said:
"We placed customers at the heart of our procurement process. Customers assessed contractors in the areas they felt were important including ensuring we deliver value for money.
"Tenants told us what they wanted from a repair and maintenance firm - it was things like tradespeople turning up on time and arriving with the right materials and proper identification so they could be identified as legitimate contractors.
"Symphony then put those into ten golden rules that each company had to commit to as part of their bid. I'm delighted to say that after competing on a completely level playing field, lots of Merseyside companies were awarded the work.
"We are now looking forward to working with those companies to create a first class repairs and maintenance service which has the best interests of our tenants at heart."
Symphony reduced the number of contractors used and streamlined systems. All staff carrying out repairs and maintenance work have standard identity badges, are CRB checked and drive liveried vehicles so tenants can be sure they are dealing with a genuine caller to their home.
The new contractors are already proving a success. Surveys have revealed that customer satisfaction with the repair and maintenance service is on the rise and response times to priority repairs are getting even faster.
Mears have secured a 3-years repairs and maintenance contract with Gateshead Council for more than 21,000 homes managed by The Gateshead Housing Company.
A number of suggestions made by tenants have been included in the contract, such as a new two-hour appointment system, the completion of more repairs on the first visit and empty homes being improved more quickly.
After the initial three years term, the contract provides an option to extend for a further two years. It will cover response repairs, getting void dwellings ready to let, gas servicing and improvements to Gateshead Council's homes. It also provides for a 24-hour emergencies service,