Tender

Tower Hamlets tenders 32 affordable homes at Brunton Wharf Limehouse

By Staff Writer  |  23 August 2026

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is looking for a main contractor to build 32 affordable rent homes on a car park site at the Brunton Wharf Estate in Limehouse, on a two stage design and build contract with a pre construction services agreement before a fixed price is agreed. The tender notice was published on 21 August 2026 under the identifier 2026/S 000-079855.

The requirement carries the council reference HAR6071. The notice records a total value, described on its face as estimated, of 15,809,000 pounds excluding value added tax and 18,970,800 pounds including it, and records the procurement as above the relevant threshold. The procedure is open, the main procurement category is works and the classification is construction work.

The scheme is recorded as meeting the definition of a high risk building, so the requirements of the Building Safety Act apply to it. The notice states that the revised scheme reflects changes made to the design to comply with recent regulatory changes following publication of that Act. A contractor pricing this is therefore pricing a design that has already moved once for that reason.

The development is described as 32 affordable rent residential units on the car park site, together with new amenity space, child play space, wider estate security upgrades and improvements to the existing under croft parking. The contract is to be let on a two stage design and build 2016 form with a pre construction services agreement in place before a fixed price is agreed, on RIBA stage 3 plus information.

That structure explains the award criteria, which are published in full. Quality carries 50 per cent, social value 10 per cent and price 40 per cent. The price element is itself split, with 5 per cent set against the price for the pre construction services elements and 35 per cent against the target construction price. Social value is also split, with 5 per cent against a bidder's submission on a number of social value offerings and 5 per cent against a qualitative submission. Quality is assessed on responses to six quality questions set out in the invitation to tender.

What the practitioner should take from this

Putting only 5 per cent of the total against the pre construction services price is the sort of weighting that rewards a bidder who prices the first stage honestly rather than one who buys entry to it. The remaining 35 per cent sits against the target construction price, which is the number that is subsequently developed during the pre construction stage rather than fixed at tender.

Tenders are due by 16 October 2026 at 12:00. Estimated contract dates run from 1 January 2027 to 31 March 2029, a term of two years and three months. Conditions of participation record that bidders must achieve a threshold score in the council's financial assessment as set out in full in the invitation to tender document, with technical ability requirements likewise carried in that document. Payment terms are recorded as being set out in the contracts within the tender pack.

The notice records that preliminary market engagement was carried out under an earlier project reference, so the market has already been approached on this scheme once. Read with the statement that the design has been revised for building safety compliance, the picture is of a scheme returning to the market in a changed form rather than one coming to it for the first time.

The notice does not give a building height, a storey count or a gateway position under that Act, and none is stated here. Nor does it name the earlier contractor or design team, or say what the previous scheme was worth.