---
title: "Private Rented Sector Licensing and Inspection"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-05977c"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-05977c"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05977c.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05977c.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "READING BOROUGH COUNCIL"
published: "2026-04-10"
---

# Private Rented Sector Licensing and Inspection

Buyer: READING BOROUGH COUNCIL  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-05977c

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## Summary

The procurement process, led by Reading Borough Council, focuses on securing a delivery partner for the "Private Rented Sector Licensing and Inspection" in Reading, UK. The process falls under the housing and property services industry category, covering regions such as Battle, Park, and Redlands wards. Initiated through an open procurement method, this tendering process has progressed to the award stage with significant developments as of 10th April 2026, including the contract award to HOME SAFE DELIVERY PARTNERS LTD. The contract spans a five-year term with potential extensions up to seven years, valued at £4,174,000 in total. The selection of this supplier followed a statutory consultation exercise and focused on managing licensing schemes for private rented sectors in areas characterized by varying property conditions.

This procurement opportunity provides substantial avenues for growth for businesses involved in property management services, especially those with expertise in residential and non-residential property renting or leasing, software programming, and data services. Companies capable of delivering application processing, inspections, and compliance monitoring are particularly well-suited to this contract. The partnership with Reading Borough Council in this innovative and comprehensive programme to improve housing conditions can enhance reputations and expand business networks, affirming a firm's role in pivotal public sector projects. Competitive businesses in the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, such as HOME SAFE DELIVERY PARTNERS LTD, have demonstrated the potential to successfully capture this market, offering valuable lessons for others looking to engage in similar procurement processes.

## Notice

The Council currently operates a licensing scheme under the housing Act 2004 for larger houses in multiple occupation with 5 or more occupants, this is the national mandatory licensing scheme. Approximately 1,400 properties are licenced (or in the process of being licenced) on this scheme. The Housing Act contains provisions for the Council to designate discretionary licensing schemes, additional licensing to cover smaller houses in multiple occupation and selective licensing to cover all rented properties, within a designated area. The evidence to support introduction of discretionary licensing scheme was gathered through a Boroughwide Stock Condition Survey. The main features of the Stock Condition Survey included: o Reading's Private rented Sector (PRS) is now calculated to be 39.9% of all housing stock. o The PRS in Reading is distributed across all 16 wards. o Reading has a mixture of high and low deprivation wards. 8 of 16 wards have aggregated IMD rankings below the national average. o Reading has a lower proportion in fuel poverty (10.3%) than the national average. o There are 4,297 private rented properties in Reading that are likely to have at least 1 serious housing hazard distributed across all wards. o Reading Borough Council recorded 3,117 complaints and service requests from private tenants and others linked to PRS properties over 5-years. o 1,084 PRS properties are likely to fail the basic energy efficiency requirement. o Reading's house in multiple occupation (hmo) population has been estimated to comprise a total of 3,272 properties. o Analysis shows that 1,230 hmos in Reading are predicted to have at least one serious hazard. o During inspections, officers identified 701 Category 1 and 2 hazards (HHSRS). The full survey and accompanying report can be found in the papers for Housing, Neighbourhoods and Leisure Committee - Wednesday, 21st February, 2024 6.30 pm at democracy.reading.gov.uk 2.1.6 Following the stock condition report a statutory consultation exercise was completed in June-August 2024, which is published online at https://reading.govocal.com/en-GB/projects/prsconsultation The outcome of the consultation was a decision to proceed with the designation of both additional and selective licensing schemes. A further decision was made to seek a delivery partner to administer the scheme. This tender seeks a delivery partner, to support additional (hmo) licensing and selective licensing designations in Reading under the Housing Act 2004 parts 2 and 3. The Council has delegated powers to officers to designate four discretionary licensing schemes Additional hmo licensing scheme for smaller houses in multiple occupation (3-4 occupants). This would cover the whole Borough, equating to around 1600 properties. Section 257 hmos divided into self-contained flats are not proposed to be covered in the designation Selective licensing of all rented properties in Battle ward, to the west of Reading town centre. This is estimated to cover approximately 1800 properties. Selective licensing of all rented properties in Park ward, to the east of Reading close to the university. This is estimated to cover approximately 1500 properties. Selective licensing of all rented properties in Redlands ward, to the east of Reading close to the university and adjacent to Park ward. This is estimated to cover approximately 1900 properties. The estimated number of properties is based upon 80% of the predicted number of licensable properties identified in the stock condition report. A further delegation has been received to enter into a 5 year contract with the possibility of a 2 year extension to implement the schemes outlined in 3.2.1 and 3.2.2. Further extensions are subject to approval. The designations are proposed to be made to tackle the areas /sectors with the worst property conditions within the borough in particular relating to hazards and property conditions. The proposed selective licensing designations are proposed to be made on the ground of poor property conditions.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: A 2 year extension is available subject to the specified requirements being met as outlined in the specification project scope.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/032724-2026 |
| Notice type | UK7 - Contract Details Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 10 Apr 2026 |
| Submission deadline | 6 Oct 2025 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 3 Dec 2025 |
| Contract period | 26 Feb 2026 - 25 Feb 2031 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £2,654,880 |
| Lots value | £2,654,880 |
| Awards value | £3,479,000 |
| Contracts value | £3,479,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | READING BOROUGH COUNCIL |
| Locality | READING |
| Post town | Reading |
| Postcode | RG1 2LU |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLJ South East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLJ1 Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire |
| ITL 3 | TLJ16 Berkshire West |
| Local authority | Reading |
| Electoral ward | Abbey |
| Westminster constituency | Reading Central |
| Delivery location | TLJ11 Berkshire |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | HOME SAFE DELIVERY PARTNERS |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 70 - Real estate services
- 72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

### Codes

- 70210000 - Residential property renting or leasing services
- 70220000 - Non-residential property renting or leasing services
- 70331000 - Residential property services
- 72200000 - Software programming and consultancy services
- 72300000 - Data services

## Release History

- 10 Apr 2026 at 10:18 - Award - UK7 - Contract Details Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/032724-2026
- 5 Dec 2025 at 10:24 - Award - UK6 - Contract Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/080020-2025
- 11 Sep 2025 at 14:22 - TenderUpdate - UK4 - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/055887-2025
- 10 Sep 2025 at 11:24 - Tender - UK4 - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/055359-2025

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/032724-2026
  10th April 2026 - Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/080020-2025
  5th December 2025 - Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/055887-2025
  11th September 2025 - Tender notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/055359-2025
  10th September 2025 - Tender notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/A-5006
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/A-5007

## Notice URLs

- http://www.home-safe.org.uk
- https://in-tendhost.co.uk/readingbc/aspx/Tenders/Current
- https://reading.govocal.com/en-GB/projects/prsconsultation
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents
- https://www.reading.gov.uk/

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-05977c. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05977c.json.