Planning

Grounds Maintenance and Gardening Servces

FIRST GARDEN CITIES HOMES

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

08 Jun 2026 at 16:38

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

First Garden Cities Homes, an English Registered Provider of Social Housing located in Letchworth Garden City, is currently in the planning stage of procuring a contract for "Grounds Maintenance and Gardening Services." The procurement is categorised under services in the grounds maintenance industry, within the region of North Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, UK. This process includes a resident consultation to finalise the service specifications, and interested parties must express interest by 24 July 2026. The contract, divided into two lots, will commence on 1 January 2027, following the expiration of the current contract on 31 December 2026. The procurement aims to foster participation from SMEs, encouraging environmentally responsible and innovative approaches.

This tender presents substantial opportunities for businesses that specialise in grounds maintenance and have a focus on high-quality service and environmental responsibility. Businesses with qualified horticultural professionals and innovative solutions in service delivery are particularly suited to compete. It is an excellent growth opportunity for small to medium enterprises (SMEs) looking to broaden their client base by demonstrating their ability to deliver quality, sustainable services. Participants have the chance to influence the tender's final structure through early engagement, which underscores a collaborative approach encouraged by First Garden Cities Homes.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Grounds Maintenance and Gardening Servces

Notice Description

First Garden Cities Homes Limited is an English Registered Provider of Social Housing. We were formed on 1 March 2020 through the amalgamation of Howard Cottage Housing Association and Welwyn Garden City Housing Association, two organisations with a combined history of over 170 years of providing affordable homes. Howard Cottage HA was established in 1911 to provide affordable housing in Letchworth, the world's first Garden City, whilst the eponymous Welwyn Garden City HA was founded fifty years later for the same purpose. Today, First Garden Cities Homes is a modern, dynamic 2400 homes housing association with an active development programme and deep roots in its communities. Our current contract for the Grounds Maintenance and Gardening Services services expires on 31/12/2026 and there is no option to extend or renew in a manner compliant with the Procurement Act 2023. We are now starting the process of procuring a new contract to provide the services. A GIS mapping project has already been commissioned to ensure that we have the most accurate information available about the scope and volume of the works at approximately 65 locations across North Herts and Beds. This will be completed prior to tender publication and form part of the tender pack. We are now accepting expressions of interest for participation in a market engagement exercise ahead of publishing a tender. The requirement will be divided into two lots of broadly similar volume, organised by geography, to create a manageable scale of delivery for providers of different sizes. Our homes sit within a Garden Cities context, and the appearance and condition of the grounds are central to the identity of these places and to the pride residents take in them. A consistently high quality, well presented standard of finish is therefore essential, and we do not believe this can be achieved through solely unskilled labour. We will expect at least some of the operatives attending site on every occasion to hold relevant horticultural qualifications or demonstrable equivalent experience, and we are interested in how providers structure and deploy their workforce to meet this standard reliably. Environmental responsibility and social value matter to us. We welcome approaches that advance environmental initiatives across our sites, and we are keen to understand how SMEs can be supported to compete to further our social value aims. We also invite innovation. We want to hear how providers would bring new methods, technology and ideas to improve quality, efficiency and sustainability. We are currently undertaking a consultation exercise with our residents to understand the levels of quality and detail they expect from the service, and the outcome of that work will inform our final specification. Once this is complete we will contact interested parties to arrange meetings to give potential suppliers the opportunity to shape this procurement.

Planning Information

In the first instance please register your expression of interest using the email address in this notice. Once the resident consultation is complete and we have a a clear understanding of their expectations we will contact interested parties to initiate dialog.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06b04b
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/054001-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

77 - Agricultural, forestry, horticultural, aquacultural and apicultural services

CPV Codes

77314000 - Grounds maintenance services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
8 Jun 20263 days ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
3 Aug 20262 months to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Jan 2027 - 31 Dec 2031 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Planning
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
FIRST GARDEN CITIES HOMES
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LETCHWORTH GARDEN CITY
Postcode
SG6 1NY
Post Town
Stevenage
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLH East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLH2 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLH26 North and East Hertfordshire
Delivery Location
TLH2 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire
Local Authority
North Hertfordshire
Electoral Ward
Letchworth South West
Westminster Constituency
North East Hertfordshire

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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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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