How to win: Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Support Services

About this contract

Reading Borough Council is undertaking preliminary market engagement in advance of a planned procurement of rough sleeping and homelessness support services in early 2027. The future commissioning programme will support delivery of the Council's Preventing Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2026-2031, which sets out a vision for homelessness and rough sleeping to be rare, brief and non-recurring. The strategy recognises that homelessness is driven by a range of factors, including housing affordability, health inequalities, trauma, financial hardship and social exclusion, and requires a coordinated response across housing, health, social care and community services. The Council's priorities in the strategy are to: • Intervene early to prevent homelessness and rough sleeping • Break the cycle of homelessness and rough sleeping • Make sure everyone can access safe, settled and affordable housing The Council is reviewing its current homelessness support services to ensure future services are prevention-focused, housing-led and capable of meeting the needs of people experiencing rough sleeping, homelessness and multiple disadvantage. Through this market engagement exercise, the Co

How to win contracts like this

• ✓Answer against the marking scheme, not the question text — Reading Borough Council scores each response, so map your evidence to the published criteria and weightings.
• ✓At £3,700,000, expect quality and social value to carry a large share of the score — price alone rarely wins services work.
• ✓Show recent, comparable delivery: name similar services contracts you've delivered for public bodies, with measurable outcomes.
• ✓Start early: deadlines are tight and a strong bid takes iteration.

BidWriter drafts your responses from your company profile, scores them against the marking scheme, and tracks your whole pipeline. Free to start — no card needed.

Related resources