---
title: "Homes England Innovation Challenge Fund Design"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-078f0a"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-078f0a"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078f0a.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078f0a.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "Homes England (the name adopted by the Homes and Communities Agency)"
published: "2026-10-23"
---

# Homes England Innovation Challenge Fund Design

Buyer: Homes England (the name adopted by the Homes and Communities Agency)  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-078f0a

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## Summary

Homes England commissioned design services for a bespoke innovation challenge fund. The work is classified as research and development services and related consultancy (CPV 73000000), but the stated requirement is specifically to design the fund, rather than to deliver a general research programme. The buyer is Homes England, the public authority responsible for the procurement. The work is intended to cover England: the listed delivery areas span the North East, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, South East and South West. This is a single, defined design requirement for a Homes England innovation fund, making it most relevant to organisations with experience developing challenge funds and related programmes.

The procurement is complete and has been awarded to NESTA. Homes England used a direct award below the threshold, without competition, under an exemption for research contracts. The contract was signed on 19 October 2026 and runs from 1 November 2026 to 26 February 2027. Its value is £100,000 excluding VAT and £120,000 including VAT. There was one lot, and the award is active. The published procurement information does not state award criteria or an evaluation basis, so the outcome cannot be attributed to a specified scoring method. NESTA is the selected supplier for the fund design work; no separate award values or suppliers are reported.

For suppliers that did not secure this work, the award indicates that Homes England commissions bespoke design for innovation challenge funds through a direct, below-threshold route treated as exempt research. A credible competitor for a similar requirement would need to show that it can shape a challenge fund around the buyer’s objectives, develop a coherent design and work across a programme intended to cover England. Relevant strengths would include practical experience in fund and programme design, understanding of innovation challenges, and the ability to deliver focused consultancy within a defined project period. The selected provider is a large organisation with a voluntary, community or social enterprise status, evidence that a substantial mission-led organisation met the buyer’s requirement; this does not establish that either status was a formal selection condition.

## Notice

Suppler to undertake design work for a bespoke innovation challenge fund for Homes England. Exempt research contract as per Schedule 2 PA23.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/100511-2026 |
| Notice type | UK7 - Contract Details Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Direct |
| Procurement method details | Below threshold - without competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 23 Oct 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 1 Nov 2026 - 26 Feb 2027 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £100,000 |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | Homes England (the name adopted by the Homes and Communities Agency) |
| Locality | NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE |
| Postcode area | Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Postcode | NE4 5BZ |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLC North East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLC4 Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear |
| ITL 3 | TLC43 Tyneside |
| Local authority | Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Electoral ward | Arthur's Hill |
| Westminster constituency | Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | NESTA |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

### Codes

- 73000000 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

## Release History

- 23 Oct 2026 at 13:51 - Award - UK7 - Contract Details Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/100511-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/100511-2026
  23rd October 2026 - Contract details notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/homes-england
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents
- https://www.nesta.org.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-078f0a. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078f0a.json.