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Provision of Legal Services

Arbour Housing

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

01 Sep 2026 at 12:19

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Tender

02 Jun 2026 at 16:14

UK4 - Tender Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Arbour Housing is establishing a framework for legal services covering three main areas of legal expertise. The requirement includes general legal services and legal advisory and representation services, intended to support the housing organisation’s legal needs. The framework is for services rather than goods or construction works. Arbour Housing is based in Portadown, Northern Ireland, and the procurement is governed by Northern Irish devolved regulations. The available information does not break the requirement into separate service categories beyond the three areas described in the procurement. The framework is intended to appoint up to three legal service providers, making it relevant to established law firms with suitable public-sector, housing or related legal advisory and representation capabilities.

The procurement is complete and was awarded on 27 July 2026 following a below-threshold open competition. Seven bids were received, including seven from SMEs. Carson McDowell LLP, Cleaver Fulton Rankin and Mills Selig were appointed to the framework. The awarded value is £165,000 excluding VAT (£198,000 including VAT). The award framework runs from 2 September 2026 to 31 August 2028, with an option to extend for one year to 31 August 2029. It is a closed framework with up to three participants; future contracts may be awarded with or without reopening competition. Electronic submission was allowed, and the tender closing deadline was 19 June 2026 at 12:00. The stated award basis was the most economically advantageous tender, with details in the tender documents.

This award demonstrates recurring demand from Arbour Housing for a multi-provider legal services framework rather than a one-off instruction. A credible future competitor would need to offer broad coverage across the three legal expertise areas identified by the organisation, including legal advice and representation. The appointed suppliers are large Belfast-based law firms, indicating that the requirement is suited to firms with substantial professional capacity, a broad team of qualified lawyers and the ability to support an institutional housing client over several years. Experience of public-sector procurement, housing law, governance, property or related advisory work would help demonstrate relevance, while a delivery model that can handle both framework call-offs with and without further competition would be commercially important.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Provision of Legal Services

Notice Description

Arbour Housing wishes to commission a framework for the provision of legal services. Arbour has identified that its legal requirements (for this tender process) fall under three main areas of expertise and expects to appoint three bidders to the framework.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: FA may be extended by one year.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06abc7
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/082598-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Framework
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Below threshold - open competition
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

CPV Codes

79100000 - Legal services

79110000 - Legal advisory and representation services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£165,000 £100K-£500K
Lots Value
£165,000 £100K-£500K
Awards Value
£165,000 £100K-£500K
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
1 Sep 20261 months ago
Submission Deadline
19 Jun 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
27 Jul 20262 months ago
Contract Period
2 Sep 2026 - 31 Aug 2028 1-2 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Arbour Housing
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
PORTADOWN
Postcode
BT62 3EN
Postcode Area
Northern Ireland
Country
Northern Ireland
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLN Northern Ireland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLN0 Northern Ireland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLN07 Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon
Electoral Ward
Killycomain
Westminster Constituency
Upper Bann

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
3
Supplier Names

Carson McDowell LLP

CLEAVER FULTON RANKIN LTD

MILLS SELIG LTD

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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