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Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 2 Oct 2026, 11:36 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Trafford Waters - Architect

Official notice Competition analysis

Authority: LONDON & QUADRANT HOUSING TRUST (Housing)

ServicesSME suitable
Sectors: Architecture & Engineering (71) Delivery: North West (UKD3)
Planned pipeline value£800,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 13 Nov 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 3 yrsends 31 Dec 2029 · starts 15 Jan 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

L&Q are undertaking this preliminary market engagement (PME) to inform the design of a future procurement exercise for an Architect for our Trafford Water site.

About L&Q

L&Q is one of the UK's largest charitable housing associations, owning and managing over 105,000 homes across Greater London and Greater Manchester. Alongside its core role as a housing provider, L&Q is an active developer and regeneration partner, delivering new homes across a range of tenures, including affordable housing and market sale. L&Q's development programme focuses on creating high-quality, sustainable places that support thriving communities and respond to local housing needs.

London and Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q) is seeking to procure an architect for RIBA stages 2 and 3 in relation to plots 3.4 and 5.3 at Trafford Waters, Manchester, M41 7JE. L&Q may seek to expand the remit of this appointment to cover other stages, and sites in the Trafford Waters Development.

The Project

Trafford Waters is a 53-acre regeneration site being master developed by Peel Group, with outline consent for up to 3,000 homes alongside significant public open space, commercial uses, and a new school. L&Q have already delivered an initial phase of the site, the Pearson Place scheme, comprising 83 apartments, and are now progressing the acquisition of further plots 3.4 and 5.3 within the masterplan.

Initial feasibility studies highlight the requirement for a high quality, high density family housing scheme that aligns with the requirements of the Trafford Design Code reflects the high density aspirations of the Outline Planning Consent (Reference: 85282/OUT/15).

An initial high level programme is as follows, please note all dates are indicative and subject to change.

Pre Market Engagement: October 2026

Tender / Framework call off: October 2026 – January 2026 (subject to decision on route to market)

Start of Services: January 2027

Planning Submission: May 2027

Start on Site: January 2028

L&Q wish to understand the capacity and capability of potential suppliers in the market to deliver our aims for high quality high density family housing schemes to inform our route to market. L&Q are eager to explore services beyond traditional architectural services – including how you can help us:

  1. Ensure viability of the site
  2. Assist with sales development / promotion of the dwellings
  3. Manage risks of the development

CPV: Architectural and related services · Architectural design services · Architectural services for buildings · Landscape architectural services · Urban planning and landscape architectural services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 3 yrsSME
Contract period: 15 Jan 2027 – 31 Dec 2029 (3 yrs)
Delivery: North WestEligibility: SME eligible
71200000 Architectural and related services71220000 Architectural design services71221000 Architectural services for buildings71400000 Urban planning and landscape architectural services71420000 Landscape architectural services

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How LONDON & QUADRANT HOUSING TRUST buys Architectural design services (CPV 7122), and who usually turns up

LONDON & QUADRANT HOUSING TRUST’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Architectural design services (CPV 7122) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerLONDON & QUADRANT HOUSING TRUST · all categories
The marketArchitectural design services (CPV 7122)
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
i

How often small and medium firms win.

Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.

The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 9 of 25 known-size awards · market: CPV 7122 · North West England, n=9
36%89%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
i

How often local firms win similar work.

Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.

Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in North West England.

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 18 of 23 known-location awards · market: CPV 7122 · North West England, n=15
78%40%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.

How long to a decision?
i

How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.

Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 7 decided notices · market: CPV 7122 · UK-wide, n=22
64 days73 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 64 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.

Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.

Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 12 of 31 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 7122 · North West England, n=15
39%40%

Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.

How many bids did past lots attract?

i

How many bids past lots received.

Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.

Past bids do not predict this tender.

Last 36 months.

This buyer23 lots with bid counts · all categories
9% had one bid
The market42 lots with bid counts · CPV 7122 · UK-wide
7% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid9% / 7%
Buyer: 2 of 23 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 42 lots with published bid counts.
2–322% / 10%
Buyer: 5 of 23 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 42 lots with published bid counts.
4–626% / 36%
Buyer: 6 of 23 lots with published bid counts. Market: 15 of 42 lots with published bid counts.
7+43% / 48%
Buyer: 10 of 23 lots with published bid counts. Market: 20 of 42 lots with published bid counts.

How did awards compare with estimates?

i

Where winning prices landed against estimates.

Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

This buyerToo few to chart: 3 lots with estimate and award, 5 needed · all categories
The market33 lots with estimate and award · CPV 7122 · UK-wide
48% below estimate
Market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate48%
Market: 16 of 33 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%24%
Market: 8 of 33 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate27%
Market: 9 of 33 lots with an estimate and award.
2

Assess each lot
i

What past awards tell you about each lot.

See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.

No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 7136 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£800k

This lot lists more than one class in CPV 71. The comparison uses that group.

Expected competition
i

How many bids this lot may attract.

The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.

Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 125 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet14% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 125 similar lots
1 bid14%
17 of 125 similar past lots received 1 bid (14%).
2–322%
28 of 125 similar past lots received 2–3 (22%).
4–623%
29 of 125 similar past lots received 4–6 (23%).
7+41%
51 of 125 similar past lots received 7+ (41%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 5 bids.
Commercial price forecast
i

Where the award price may land.

The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.

No comparable awards for this lot yet.

A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £800k, and the forecast stays empty until the market has a record to read.

Who has supplied this buyer on similar work?
i

Who has done similar work for this buyer.

Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.

A past supplier may not bid again.

No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.

Who could compete for this lot?
i

Who could compete for this lot?

Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.

None is confirmed as a bidder.

Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.

About this data
  • Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
  • Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
  • Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
  • Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Unspecified in notice
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
2 Oct 2026, 11:36 BST
Last source update
6 Oct 2026, 13:29 BST
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-094266
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Architectural and related servicesArchitectural design servicesArchitectural services for buildingsLandscape architectural servicesUrban planning and landscape architectural services
Delivery area
North West (UKD3)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077f7a Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

2 Oct 2026 → 15 Jan 2027 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published24 days ago
    2 Oct 2026, 11:36 BST
  2. Latest notice published20 days ago
    6 Oct 2026, 13:29 BST
  3. Market engagement10 days ago
    16 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST

    L&Q are requesting that potential suppliers complete the questionnaire via in-tend, and submit their responses. This can be found by registering on In-tend via the link provided here:

    in-tendhost.co.uk/lqsupplychainmanagem… ↗

    This PME is not intended to form part of any tender evaluation or selection process.

  4. Today
    27 Oct 2026
  5. Tender notice expectedin 17 days
    13 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
  6. Contract startsin 79 days
    15 Jan 2027

Notice history

4 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 2 Oct 2026
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    2 Oct 2026, 11:36 BST
    UK2
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    5 Oct 2026, 10:56 BST
    UK2
  3. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    6 Oct 2026, 13:26 BST
    UK2
  4. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    6 Oct 2026, 13:29 BST
    UK2
Routine re-releases (4)
  • 2026-10: 1 release · 2 Oct 2026

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Pipeline notice
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

LONDON & QUADRANT HOUSING TRUST

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-COH: IP030441 29-35 West Ham Lane, London, London, E15 4PNContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (4)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure