The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has today appointed a preferred development partner for the first HCA-owned site to be procured through its Delivery Partner Panel.

Wates Living Space has been appointed to develop the former Guest Hospital in Dudley, which includes retaining the historic buildings, creating 218 market sale and affordable homes built to Level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes, alongside green open spaces and a community facility.

The Delivery Partner Panel (DPP) was established in January 2010 to give access to a pre-qualified list of organisations that can assist with all stages of the development process. While Guest Hospital is the first HCA scheme with a preferred developer appointed through the DPP, there are many more projects in the pipeline, at various stages of the competition process. In the first eight months of operation, 14,500 homes have already been identified to be delivered by partners procured through the panel.

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Steve Carr, Head of New Business and Economics at the HCA, said: "The Delivery Partner Panel has been extremely successful so far, helping to ensure the whole procurement process is more efficient and cost effective for both the HCA and other organisations using the panel. We have received extremely positive feedback and with the procurement process being fast-tracked, public sector organisations are able to make substantial project cost savings by choosing to select developers through the panel rather than follow a traditional procurement route."

So far, around 8,500 new homes have been identified for construction on HCA-owned sites using the DPP. Third party organisations such as local authorities and other public land owners are also using the DPP to procure partners. The City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council recently became the first third party organisation to select a delivery partner through the panel, appointing Lovell as preferred developer for their site at Longfield Drive in Bradford.

Around 6,000 new and affordable homes have already been identified for construction on non-HCA owned public sector land, by organisations using the DPP. So far over 35 public sector organisations have signed an agreement with the HCA and are in the process of using the panel to procure partners for their own sites, ranging from small projects of around 20 homes to large renewal schemes that require a mix of expertise.

(CD/KMcA)