Real estate services

Tender description

Thames Water wishes to award one or more framework agreements to supplier(s) capable of providing property management services to the Thames Water Group, across our entire business footprint and more widely if required. This could include (but is not limited to) estates and rents management, long term value creation, disposals, acquisitions and development planning relative to the Thames Water Group and Thames Tideway Tunnel property portfolios. Additionally we are seeking the provision of business rates advisory and appeal services. Note that your client may be Thames Water Utilities Limited or another company within the Kemble Water group structure. The scope of this procurement is for the provision of specialist, property management and portfolio development services aligned to the Thames Water property portfolio and wider Thames Water Group portfolio. The Thames Water property estate includes c. 5 300 sites across 16 000 acres of which c. 60 % is in the Greenbelt or Metropolitan open land (MOL). In addition, we have a diverse range of assets that present an opportunity for Thames Water to generate additional income streams and value. This lot is split in to the following sub-sections: — lot 1 (a) TWUL assets — land sales, development and development planning; — lot 1 (b) TWUL assets — estate management and planning. These sub-sections will be awarded as a single lot but have been split out for the pupose of PQQ and ITN as the commercial and contractual models are very different. Activities that we expect to be supported by this procurement could include (but are not limited to): Lot 1 (a): — Land disposals and sales — Long term value creation (yield opportunities) — Acquisitions — Valuation support and project appraisal — Strategic initiatives — Planning and development planning — Internal asset transfers — Affordable housing — Marriage value opportunities — Alternative land use — Accommodation strategy — Aggregates — Advertising — Compulsory purchase advice — Development consent order (DCO) advice — Dedicated property director support — Identification and the potential management of other potential income streams — Interaction and engagement with Thames Water and its key stakeholder groups Lot 1 (b): — Estates management — Rents management (including renewals) — Lease renewals — Property maintenance activities — Service charge management — Statutory compliance — Accounting services and tax compliance — Town planning — Loss of business claims — Interaction and engagement with Thames Water and its key stakeholder groups Successful organisations should have a proven track record in property management and portfolio development services with an experienced, dedicated workforce to deliver the activities mentioned above. We expect successful organisations to operate as an integrated member of the Thames Water Property team, providing services and presence within the Thames Water offices in Reading and the Thames Tideway offices in central London (recommend 2 days per week unless agreed otherwise). Additionally, Thames Water are seeking suppliers that will provide an innovative contribution towards our key areas of development: — Maximising the value and revenues from our property portfolio over the next 10 years and beyond — Building and identifying a sustainable strategy and pipeline of opportunity to support a 10-year (and beyond) plan — Identifying and validating untapped, potential income streams and value creation within the Thames Water portfolio For the avoidance of doubt the scope for this procurement does not include facilities management. Scope detail for this LOT has been included in our PQQ documentation. The scope of this procurement is for the provision of specialist, property management and portfolio development services aligned to the Thames Tideway Tunnel property portfolio. The Thames Tideway Tunnel will be a 16 mile tunnel running mostly under the tidal section of the River Thames through central London. Started in 2016, construction of the Thames Tideway Tunnel aimed to take seven to 8 years with all work completed by 2024. The sites acquired by Thames Water to enable the construction of the Thames Tideway Tunnel were mostly substantial residential development sites. These land deals included high market values and, in some cases, included complex pre-emption, buy back and overage options. The key outcomes of this engagement will be to ensure (from a property perspective) that Thames Water can fully comply with ET06 and ET07 and that hand back and disposal, where relevant, of sites can be achieved by the necessary dates and that the operation of Public Realm sites are returned to Thames Water as agreed. Full detail of ET06 and ET07 can be found in OFWAT’s final determination paper for Thames Tideway Tunnel at the following link: https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/PR19-final-determinations-Thames-Water-Thames-Tideway-Tunnel-performance-commitments-additional-information-appendix.pdf In total there are c.27 sites made up of c.88 parcels of land, this includes five principle disposal sites and c.14 areas of Public Realm. Activities that we expect to be supported by this procurement could include (but are not limited to): — Maximising value creation — Land disposals and sales — Long term value creation (yield opportunities) — Acquisitions — Valuation support and project appraisal — Public realm (Thames Tideway Public Realm comprises of a handful of very prominent and iconic sites for public use) — Specific lease agreement management (see PQQ documentation for more information) — Rent and licence fee reviews — Strategic initiatives — Planning and development planning — Internal asset transfers — Alternative land use — Compulsory purchase advice — Identifying other potential income stream — Interaction and engagement management with key stakeholders such as GLA, PLA, EA etc. Successful organisations should have a proven track record in property management and portfolio development services with an experienced, dedicated workforce to deliver the activities mentioned above. We expect successful organisations to operate as an integrated member of the Thames Water Property team, providing services and presence within the Thames Water offices in Reading and the Thames Tideway offices in central London (recommend 2 days per week unless agreed otherwise). For the avoidance of doubt the scope for this procurement does not include facilities management. Thames Tideway Tunnel property portfolio is broken down as follows: — 5 principal disposal sites where our requirement is to carry out disposal within a mandated timescale whilst maximizing value in line with our obligations under ET06 and ET07 regulations. — 14 public realm sites that we wish to explore revenue opportunities for, including community use, reputational retention and value creation. — 8 Various other hand back sites where we must again comply with out ET06 and ET07 obligations whilst considering maximised value and retention options to Thames Water. Scope detail for this lot has been included in our PQQ documentation. Thames Water business rates are c. GBP 119 million per annum (Water is c GBP 82 million and Waste is c GBP 37 million). Candidates will need to have relevant experience and a dedicated resource to provide a comprehensive Rating consultancy service for the portfolio. The successful organisation will deliver advice and support over the term on appeal strategy, and will maximise opportunities by managing appeal proceedings, including liaising with internal and external parties as necessary. Activities that we expect to be supported by this procurement could include (but are not limited to): — Rates accounting services — Proactive asset survey reviews — Rates billing payments — Valuation office notice appeals — Non-domestic rates consultancy — Central rating list assessment — Monthly reporting and input into budget forecasts and re-forecasts The successful organisation should have a proven track record in ratings consultancy and an experienced, identified workforce to deliver the activities mentioned above. The liability for rates is made up of over 430 rating hereditaments, plus a separate rateable value of GBP 158 million on the central rating list. The total rateable value for all the sites amounts to over GBP 234 million, including the central list sum, with rates payable during 2019/20 in excess of GBP 119 million. Scope detail for this lot has been included in our PQQ documentation.