Preliminary Market Consultation for prospective providers of tracing searches in connection with long term empty homes

Tender description

<p>Dorset Councils Housing Standards Team are researching the market to find out more about the provision of services of a ‘finder company’ to use on an ad hoc basis. This will primarily be for the purposes of tracing empty property owners or next of kin in the UK and abroad. Dorset Council is distributing this questionnaire aimed at providers who are potentially interested in providing these services. This is not a request for expressions of interest in a tender. It is intended to assist the Council in gauging interest from relevant providers. This will help inform our approach to market. Please complete this questionnaire by 5th September 2022 and return it via email to housingteamf@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk for the attention of Rachel Elford and Steven March. Should we decide to proceed with a tender, this is likely to be published in the autumn of 2022 and available to view and respond to on: www.supplyingthesouthwest.org.uk. Background Information Dorset Council currently has in the region of 1130 long term empty properties (empty 6 months or more), of which 350 have been empty for more than 2 years (source: Council Tax data; Dorset Council; February 2022). The Housing Standards Team currently has ongoing enforcement actions relating to 66 long term empty properties with two currently subject to compulsory purchase proceedings. The type of service we are looking for Having provided the following information: The full name of the owner (according to Council Tax or Land Registry Details), the full address of the subject property, the last known address of the owner, the approximate time period the property has been considered empty, its current status as an empty including whether it’s considered a premium empty, in probate, second home or otherwise, the known or assumed next of kin, executor, or beneficiary of any estate associated with an empty property It is likely that the Council will be seeking a wide range of up-to-date information including any confidence levels associated with that information including The current full name of the owner, next of kin, executor or beneficiary associated with an estate and/or empty property, the current mailing address of any of the above, the current telephone number of any of the above (where possible), the current email address of any of the above (where possible). Should we decide to tender this service, this is likely to be around autumn 2022 and if you would be interested in this opportunity, please feel free to register now on the procurement portal. The tender will be advertised through: www.supplyingthesouthwest.org.uk. If you have any further questions please email housingteamf@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk for the attention of Rachel Elford and Steven March.</p> Keywords: Empty properties, Tracing owners, Property owner finder