Equans, Wates and Mears will deliver upgrades to around 60,000 council-owned homes
Birmingham City Council (BCC) has awarded 10-year contracts to repair and maintain its housing stock to Equans, Wates and Mears.
From July 2026, the trio will be responsible for day-to-day repairs and improvement work on around 60,000 properties. This will include preparing empty homes for new tenants and carrying out planned maintenance programmes such as kitchen and bathroom upgrades.
Equans will maintain homes in the east of Birmingham, Wates in the north and south and Mears in the west-central area of the city.
Mears estimated its contract to be worth £450m to carry out work to 11,500 properties.
BCC is also set to introduce a digitised repairs tool “designed to improve communication and tenant satisfaction” as it aims to deliver “clearer communication about upcoming works, timeframes and any changes, as well as more freedom to reschedule appointments when needed.”
The decade-long contracts offer a possible five-year extension and will support the delivery of the council’s investment programme, which is directing more than £200m a year towards improving council homes.
In the past year, BCC has made 35,000 upgrades to 6,000 council homes.
Nicky Brennan, the council’s cabinet member for housing and homelessness, said: “The new contracts give us an opportunity to overhaul how we monitor repairs and maintenance of council homes and to ensure tenants are getting the quality of service they rightly expect and deserve.
“We are investing more than £200m a year to bring more council properties up to a better standard. We are installing new kitchens and bathrooms and cutting energy bills by making homes cheaper and easier to heat. These new contracts will ensure we keep the pace of that investment so all our tenants and leaseholders are living in warm, safe and sustainable homes.”
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