Southwark is due to extend expired adaptations contracts for the third time since 2024

Southwark Council is due to approve a five-month extension of two housing adaptations contracts that its own notice says expired on 31 July.

The contracts cover level access showers, wet rooms, ramps and handrails in council homes. The council's report to its audit committee states the work follows assessments by the adult social care team, and matters for "enabling vulnerable households to live independently and safely".

Southwark awarded the contracts from 1 April 2021 for three years, at an estimated £1.5m for Property Facilities Group in the north of the borough and £1.2m for Spokemead Maintenance in the middle. The officer report records that both were let "with no option to extend".

A third contract, held by BuildTrust in the south, was terminated and its work moved to the other two.

The council extended all three by 11 months in April 2024. On 7 October 2025 the Strategic Director of Housing retrospectively approved a further 15-month extension running from 1 March 2025, seven months after it had begun, taking the two revised contract values to £2.670m and £2.380m.

That retrospective approval went to the audit, governance and standards committee on 19 November 2025, as the council's contract standing orders require for retrospective decisions worth more than £100,000.

Officers wrote that the specialist services team "is currently strengthening its approach to contract exit planning and TUPE compliance to ensure this situation does not arise again".

They gave the reason for the earlier delay. The team "faced conflicting priorities, including a high volume of fire safety tasks and the requirement to deliver detailed updates to the Social Housing Regulator".

The October 2025 report put the extended contracts' end date at 31 May 2026, and set a new contract start of 1 June 2026. The general exception notice published this month states instead that the contracts "expired on 31 July 2026". No housing adaptations decision appears on the council's decisions register for 1 January to 31 July 2026, or for 1 to 15 August.

The notice gives the reason this decision missed the forward plan: "following the Local Elections in May and change in administration additional time was required to consult with the relevant Executive Member and officers before the decision could proceed".

The October 2025 report logged Property Facilities Group completing 64% of planned works on time in 2024/25, against a minimum target of 95%. Spokemead reached 100%.

The audit committee report set £405,954.59 spent between February and September 2025 and £894,045.41 forecast to February 2026, against £1,300,000 available.

Hakeem Osinaike, the Strategic Director of Housing, cleared the exception notice on 14 August. The decision is due this month, and the notice states the extension runs "pending completion of an ongoing procurement process".