--- title: "18+ Care Leavers Step-Down Accommodation and Support Service" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-07844d" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-07844d" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-07844d.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-07844d.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Award" buyer: "Bradford Children & Families Trust" published: "2026-10-09" --- # 18+ Care Leavers Step-Down Accommodation and Support Service Buyer: Bradford Children & Families Trust Current stage: Award OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-07844d [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-07844d) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-07844d.json) ## Summary Bradford Children & Families Trust is procuring step-down accommodation and housing-related support for care-experienced young people aged 18 and over. The service is for those moving on from higher-intensity specialist supported accommodation who still need structured help before living independently. The provider must source, manage and maintain suitable accommodation in the agreed geographical area, and tailor support to each young person’s assessed needs. Support covers maintaining a tenancy, budgeting, education, training and employment, health and wellbeing, community integration, and preparation for independent living. This is a social work service delivered alongside accommodation (CPV 85311000). The buyer is Bradford Children & Families Trust, and the service is for young people in Bradford’s agreed area. The procurement is complete and a supplier has been selected for direct award. Bradford Children & Families Trust switched to this route after an earlier competitive procurement received no suitable tender: the sole bidder failed the capacity requirement at the selection stage. The award is pending. The selected supplier is not named in the published award data. The award value is £1,000,000 gross. The initial contract period is 1 December 2026 to 30 November 2030, with an extension option of up to two years, subject to satisfactory performance, ongoing demand, funding and Trust approval. Capacity is planned to increase from up to 20 units in year one, to 30 in year two, 35 in year three and 40 in year four, subject to demand and placement needs. The service is a single lot; SMEs and voluntary, community and social enterprises are considered suitable. Due diligence and exclusion checks were passed. For suppliers considering similar future work for Bradford Children & Families Trust, this award shows demand for a provider able to combine accommodation management with flexible, person-centred support for care leavers progressing towards independent living. A credible supplier needs to source and maintain suitable local housing and scale capacity in stages, rather than rely on all accommodation being ready at commencement. It must also deliver support across tenancy sustainment, financial skills, education and employment, health and wellbeing, community integration and independent-living preparation, adapting provision to individual assessed needs. The earlier competitive process did not produce a suitable tender because the sole bidder failed the capacity requirement; the selected provider demonstrated it could meet the clarified phased-capacity model and passed due diligence and exclusion checks. Smaller businesses and social enterprises are considered suitable to compete. ## Notice Bradford Children and Families Trust intends to directly award a contract for the provision of an 18+ Care Leavers Step-Down Accommodation and Support Service. The service will provide suitable accommodation alongside flexible, person-centred housing-related support for care-experienced young people aged 18 and over. It is intended for young people who no longer require higher-intensity specialist supported accommodation but who still require planned support before moving into fully independent living. The provider will be responsible for sourcing, managing and maintaining suitable accommodation within the agreed geographical area. The provider will also deliver support tailored to each young person's assessed needs, including tenancy sustainment, budgeting, education, training and employment, health and wellbeing, community integration and preparation for independent living. The service will be delivered through a phased mobilisation model, providing capacity for up to 20 accommodation units during the first year, increasing to 30 units in year two, 35 units in year three and 40 units in year four, subject to demand and individual placement requirements. The proposed initial contract term is four years, with an option to extend for a further two years, subject to satisfactory performance, continued demand, available funding and the relevant Trust approvals. The Trust intends to award this contract directly under section 43 of the Procurement Act 2023, following an unsuccessful competitive procurement in which no suitable tender was received. The proposed direct award remains for the same service requirement, with clarification that the required accommodation capacity will be delivered through phased mobilisation. ### Procurement Information Bradford Council previously conducted a competitive procurement for this requirement. The relevant lot was formally discontinued after no suitable tender was received, as the sole bidder did not meet the capacity requirement at the PSQ stage. The contracting authority has determined that an award through the original competitive procedure is not possible and is therefore switching to a direct award under section 43 of the Procurement Act 2023. The proposed direct award is for the same service requirement. The accommodation capacity requirement has been clarified as phased mobilisation of up to 20 units during the first year, rather than all 20 units being available at contract commencement. The proposed supplier has demonstrated its ability to deliver the requirement on this basis and has passed the required due diligence and exclusion checks. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/095474-2026 | | Notice type | UK5 - Transparency Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Services | | Procurement method | Direct | | Procurement method details | Direct award | | Tender suitability | SME, VCSE | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Award | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 9 Oct 2026 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | Not specified | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 1 Dec 2026 - 30 Nov 2030 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | Not specified | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | £1,000,000 | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Complete | | Lots status | Complete | | Awards status | Pending | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | Bradford Children & Families Trust | | Locality | BRADFORD | | Postcode area | Bradford | | Postcode | BD5 0QL | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLE Yorkshire and The Humber | | ITL 2 | TLE4 West Yorkshire | | ITL 3 | TLE41 Bradford | | Local authority | Bradford | | Electoral ward | City | | Westminster constituency | Bradford West | | Delivery location | Not specified | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 85 - Health and social work services ### Codes - 85311000 - Social work services with accommodation ## Release History - 9 Oct 2026 at 09:33 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/095474-2026 ## Documents - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/095474-2026 9th October 2026 - Transparency notice on Find a Tender ## Notice URLs - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents ## 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-07844d. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-07844d.json.