IN Brief:
- Homes in Somerset awarded Bell Group retrofit and home-improvement works valued at up to £10m over three years.
- Four bids were received through a mini competition under the SWPA N9 retrofit and decarbonisation framework.
- The notice does not identify individual homes, confirmed measures or an installation timetable.
Bell Group has secured a contract worth up to £10m for retrofit and improvement works across Homes in Somerset’s housing portfolio. The award notice was published on 27 October 2026 and records the contract’s conclusion on 1 October, with delivery intended over the following three years. Homes in Somerset is a council-owned housing management organisation responsible for more than 10,000 properties on behalf of Somerset Council, giving the contractor a geographically dispersed housing portfolio in which to plan occupied-property works.
The work was secured through a mini competition under the South West Procurement Alliance Retrofit and Decarbonisation framework, known as N9. Four tenders were received, and the award criteria allocated 60% of the score to quality of service, 30% to price and 10% to social value. Bell Group, whose registered address is in Airdrie, was named as the successful supplier. The contract value is stated excluding VAT and described as being for up to £10m rather than a confirmed sum already spent.
The procurement describes retrofit home improvements but does not identify the properties, the number of dwellings or the precise measures selected for this contract. Property surveys and individual scopes will determine whether works concentrate on insulation, heating, ventilation, building fabric or other improvements. Neither the published notice nor the framework description supports allocating a fixed number of heat pumps, solar panels or insulation installations to Bell Group’s award.
The N9 framework provides a broad route to procuring different interventions rather than prescribing one standard retrofit package. Listed workstreams include loft, cavity wall insulation and internal or external wall insulation, domestic and communal heating systems, ventilation, controls, metering, solar photovoltaic equipment and battery storage. Consultancy services cover building audits and heat decarbonisation planning. Those capabilities describe the procurement framework; the selection of measures for individual Somerset homes remains a separate design and delivery decision.
Where retrofit involves fabric improvements, the correct sequence of assessment, design and installation influences the technical result. Adding insulation can lower transmission heat losses through a wall or roof, but existing moisture conditions, junctions, thermal bridges and ventilation provision must also be considered. The system that is appropriate for one house may be unsuitable for another of a different age, construction type or occupancy pattern. The award therefore leaves important specification work to be completed before site teams can be given definitive instructions.
Heating and ventilation decisions depend partly on the outcome of fabric assessments. Insulation can reduce peak space-heating demand, potentially affecting plant sizing and emitter temperatures, while tighter fabric may change ventilation requirements. The sequence must also account for moisture, existing ventilation paths and the usability of dwellings while works are carried out. The N9 route can support multidisciplinary packages, but the published award does not say whether Bell Group will undertake whole-house upgrades or smaller, separately instructed improvements.
Homes in Somerset expanded its management responsibilities in August 2026, when it took over services for the approximately 6,000 homes previously managed directly by Somerset Council. It had already managed about 4,000 council properties. That change followed an options appraisal and consultation covering the management model for the council-owned stock. It does not establish how many of the expanded portfolio will receive work under Bell Group’s contract, but it sets the operational context for a contractor dealing with geographically distributed occupied properties.
Delivery across occupied homes involves appointments, safe access, temporary service interruptions and making good after each installation. A multi-year contract also requires consistent property records linking the original assessment, agreed design, installation checks and any remedial work. Quality accounted for 60% of the tender assessment, compared with 30% for price and 10% for social value; the published scores do not disclose the detailed method statement or service-level arrangements that the successful contractor proposed.
Homes in Somerset also published a separate award on 27 October for retrofit improvements to void properties, with a value of up to £4m. That is a distinct notice and must not be represented as part of the £10m scope or as one £14m contract. The principal award follows a mini competition that attracted four bids under SWPA’s N9 framework, with Bell Group named as the sole winning supplier.
The next confirmed stage will be the release of individual property schedules and work specifications under the three-year contract. Surveys, resident access and coordination between fabric and building services will govern the delivery method. The published £10m ceiling indicates the procurement scale, while expenditure and the balance of measures depend on the work actually instructed and completed.
