Decision details

Bristol City Council has completed an open tender for a Housing First Support Service. The decision requested by this Officer Decision Notice is to approve the award of the contract.
The aim of this contract is to support those at risk of homelessness attain secure long-term tenancies within rented accommodation. There are potential savings through the reduced requirement to source emergency accommodation (which is high cost) through the sustainment of Housing First tenancies.
The Housing First Support Service is funded from the Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme (SHAP) 2024-28 from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing

Approval to award the Housing First Support Service contract to the Addiction Recovery Agency (ARA).

Option 1 - Prior to the open tender, the option of making a Direct Award of this contract was considered. Following advice form Procurement, this option was rejected due to the competitive marketplace in the city for this type of service and for the appetite of several high-quality providers to deliver Housing First. An Open Tender was identified as the best way to identify the provider best able to deliver this contract to the highest quality.