Award

Land Swap Agreement in respect of Bath Western Riverside Phase II

BATH & NORTH EAST SOMERSET COUNCIL

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

12 May 2026 at 09:14

Summary of the contracting process

Bath & North East Somerset Council has completed a unique procurement process involving a Land Swap Agreement for the Bath Western Riverside Phase II project, focusing on land acquisition rather than public works. The process, initiated to aid housing delivery, involves the Council and ST WILLIAM HOMES LLP, part of the Berkeley Group, with legal bases resting on exemptions outlined in the Procurement Act 2023. The direct award process is justified by Berkeley's existing land ownership and expertise in developing the site, aiming for completion by late 2032. This procurement exercise involves various agreements, with key dates such as the target date of the Land Swap in March 2027 and different milestones for construction completion up to 2035.

This tender offers substantial business growth opportunities for enterprises specialising in architectural, engineering, and planning services as well as construction works. Large-scale developers with expertise in land transactions and site remediation will find this appealing, especially given the significant involvement of Homes England's funding and the focus on affordable housing provision. Businesses adept at managing long-term projects with complex land and property conditions can leverage substantial opportunities within this procurement framework, particularly those with strengths in achieving planning consents and executing comprehensive development schemes in collaborative frameworks.

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Notice Title

Land Swap Agreement in respect of Bath Western Riverside Phase II

Notice Description

This notice relates to an arrangement which includes a series of agreements, with the main object being a land transaction which the Council considers is exempted under paragraph 8, Schedule 2 of the Procurement Act 2023, (an agreement for the acquisition of land and buildings). Whilst there are a series of related ancillary agreements, the Land Swap Agreement will not meet the definition of public "works contract" as the supplier will not be obligated to complete any works pursuant to it. However, the Council also considers it has reasonable grounds for a direct award under Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023 in the circumstances (as explained below) and this transparency notice is therefore published to ensure full transparency as to the Council's intentions. Bath Western Riverside is a major component of the Council's SHLAA and housing delivery trajectory. The project was committed in 2010 and has successfully delivered 854 new homes with 25% affordable housing within phase 1. Bath Western Riverside Phase 2 (the Site) is the former Bath gas works site. The Site is part owned by the Council (which owns 31.5%), and part owned by St William Homes LLP (part of the Berkeley Group) (Berkeley) (which owns 68.5%), The Council intervened to acquire its part of the Site in 2019 for regeneration purposes with the objective to maximise the provision of affordable housing delivered given the viability challenges faced from the former land uses and site conditions. To date, the Council has carried out a series of staged initial gas rationalisation and enabling works, funded predominately by Homes England (initially carried out between October 2020 and October 2023), with the most recent site wide remediation and enabling works (the Remediation Works) commencing in 2025, with Berkeley carrying out the works on a site wide basis. Homes England again provided significant funding for the required Remediation Works, and the Council passed on the proportional benefit of the Homes England grant to Berkeley (in line with Berkeley's ownership of the Site), who it entrusted to deliver the Remediation Works (including the works across the Council owned portion of the Site). In order to comply with both planning and strategic housing aims, the Council must obtain a minimum number of affordable housing units across the Site as a whole and therefore has the option to either: procure the construction of such units itself, being restricted to its own part of the Site; or to increase provision by acquiring units from Berkeley (additionality) which will be constructed on Berkeley's land. The total "land swap" transaction will be contracted for in phases as follows and this Notice covers all such Agreements: Primary Agreement: 1. Land Swap Agreement - Subject to achieving a satisfactory planning permission and Berkeley (at its own volition) building to a "golden brick" level on the part of the Site known as "Block G" (currently owned by Berkeley), Berkeley will transfer the freehold interest in Block G to the Council in return for the Council transferring its part of the Site to Berkeley. There will be additional balancing payments paid by each party to ensure the agreed price is received for each party's land. Ancillary Agreements 2. Licence to Complete Block G - Following completion of the land swap, Berkeley will obtain a permissive licence from the Council to continue to occupy Block G for the purposes of its completion with the relevant planning permission, being the planning permission with reference 22/03224/EFUL for the construction of 92 dwellings, being the "Block G Planning Permission"). Note that the Council do not consider that this arrangement meets the definition of a public works contract. 3. Fit out works - The Council will have an option (but not an obligation) to call for Berkeley to enter a contract to upgrade the specification for Block G at an additional cost. The Council considers that if it chooses to enter into such an agreement in the future it will be below the threshold for works under the Procurement Act 2023. 4. Conditional Purchase Agreement for Linear blocks - subject to completing the Land Swap Agreement, the site for the Linear Blocks will then be owned by Berkeley. Subject to funding and therefore at its option, the Council may agree to purchase c140 dwellings known as the "Linear Blocks" from Berkeley to golden brick should Berkeley choose to build them. The transfer will be conditional on the Berkeley reaching golden brick. Thereafter, the parties will also enter into a development agreement to deal with the development of the Linear blocks from golden brick level to practical completion. Due to ownership and access limitations only Berkely could complete the works. In order to achieve the outputs above Berkeley will undertake initial planning services to secure satisfactory planning permission over the whole Site, and specifically over the current Council land which does not have planning permission. To the extent Berkeley receives consideration for these services from the Council, such sums will be below the threshold for the services under the Procurement Act 2023. Subject to satisfaction of conditions linked to funding and planning consent the target date of the Land Swap will be March 2027 with construction of Block G completing in December 2029 and construction of the Linear Blocks completing in 2032.

Procurement Information

The main object of the Land Swap Agreement is to enable each party to acquire land and/or buildings from the other. In any event the Land Swap Agreement will contain no express obligation on Berkeley to undertake any works and therefore is not a public works contract for the purpose of the PA23. To the extent that a Court were to determine that one or more of the agreements does fall within the remit of the PA23, then the Council considers that the direct award justification set out in paragraph 5 (Single suppliers) and/or paragraph 6 (absence of competition) of Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023 may also apply to the award of the Land Swap Arrangement because Berkeley has exclusive rights over the Site by virtue of its existing land ownership, coupled with its unique knowledge and understanding of the challenges associated with the development of the Site on account of its historic usage and ownership. Only Berkeley is in the position to be able to deliver the volume of affordable housing provided via the Land Swap Agreement (or the opportunity for the same) alongside its own development scheme on the Site. In addition, B&NES have received formal confirmation from their property advisors, Carter Jonas, that the overall value for money and linked best consideration terms in purchasing the units from Berkeley are materially better than could be obtained by B&NES in the open market, directly due to Berkeley's adjoining land interests here, and the linked property and funding terms too.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-069668
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/043335-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK5 - Transparency Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Works
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

45 - Construction work

71 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services


CPV Codes

45210000 - Building construction work

71240000 - Architectural, engineering and planning services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£29,508,019 £10M-£100M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
12 May 20262 days ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
12 May 20262 days ago
Contract Period
9 Aug 2026 - 30 Nov 2035 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Pending
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
BATH & NORTH EAST SOMERSET COUNCIL
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
BATH
Postcode
BA1 5AW
Post Town
Bath
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLK South West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLK5 West of England
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLK52 Bath & North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire
Delivery Location
Not specified

Local Authority
Bath and North East Somerset
Electoral Ward
Kingsmead
Westminster Constituency
Bath

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

ST WILLIAM HOMES

Further Information

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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