Vale of Glamorgan Mental Health Tenancy Support Tender 2026
Vale of Glamorgan's £1.3m mental health tenancy support tender closes 23 September 2026. The 60/30/10 scoring, the Welsh regulator and bid strategy.
Vale of Glamorgan Mental Health Tenancy Support Tender 2026: Bid Strategy Guide
Posted by the TenderLab Editorial Team on 25 August 2026. Last updated 25 August 2026.
Vale of Glamorgan Council has opened bidding for the Mental Health Tenancy Support Service, referenced TESS 5. It is a 50-unit housing-related floating support service for people with enduring mental health problems, valued at £1,302,500 excluding VAT over an initial term of 1 February 2027 to 31 January 2030, with two 12-month extensions to 31 January 2032. Procurement runs under the open procedure of the Procurement Act 2023, and submissions close at 12:00pm on 23 September 2026.
This is a Welsh contract, and that changes the ground rules. The social care regulator here is Care Inspectorate Wales, not the Care Quality Commission, so English regulatory language does not belong in this bid. The award also carries a criterion you will not see in England: Community Well-Being Benefits, weighted at 10%, alongside Quality at 60% and Price at 30%.
This analysis covers the service, the Welsh regulatory frame, the cohort, the single lot, the scoring, the common mistakes, a playbook to lift your score, and mobilisation to the 1 February 2027 go-live.
At a glance
- Commissioning authority: Vale of Glamorgan Council
- Service: Mental Health Tenancy Support Service (TESS 5), a 50-unit housing-related floating support service
- Cohort: Individuals experiencing enduring mental health problems
- Value: £1,302,500 excluding VAT (roughly £1.3m)
- Term: 1 February 2027 to 31 January 2030, with two 12-month extensions available to 31 January 2032
- Procedure: Open procedure under the Procurement Act 2023
- Lots: Single lot
- Region: UKL22 Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan (Wales)
- CPV: 85000000 (health and social work services)
- Award criteria: Quality 60%, Price 30%, Community Well-Being Benefits 10%
- Deadline: 23 September 2026, 12:00pm
- Find a Tender notice: 076819-2026
You can read the full contract notice on Find a Tender.
What the service delivers
The contract funds a 50-unit housing-related floating support service. You will provide flexible housing related support to a minimum of 50 individuals across the Vale of Glamorgan, with tailored support plans addressing practical and emotional needs and the aim of developing independence and sustaining tenancies.
This is housing-related floating support, not personal care, and the distinction runs through the bid. The work is tenancy sustainment: rent and arrears, landlords, budgeting, benefits and correspondence, daily living skills, coordinating with health services, and stepping support up or down as someone's mental health fluctuates. It is not washing, dressing or medication administration, and personal care language does not belong in the response.
The Welsh regulatory frame
This is a Welsh service, so the social care regulator is Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW), under the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016. CIW is the Welsh equivalent of the Care Quality Commission. Applying CQC to this bid is a category error evaluators notice.
A second point matters more. Housing-related floating support that does not provide personal care is generally not a CIW-regulated service, so there is no CIW inspection rating to lean on and none to claim. Anchor quality instead in named standards, statutory duties, measurable outcomes and governance: supervision frequency, safeguarding routes, audit cycles and the outcomes you track.
The Welsh mental health legal context is the Mental Health (Wales) Measure 2010, under which service users may hold a care and treatment plan. The service does not deliver the Measure's statutory functions, but your support planning should connect to that plan where one exists. Housing support in Wales is funded through the Welsh Government's Housing Support Grant, the policy backdrop for this contract.
The cohort
Every individual on this service is experiencing enduring mental health problems. Housing instability and mental health feed each other: a tenancy at risk drives relapse, and relapse puts the tenancy further at risk. Sustaining the tenancy is the outcome that prevents crisis, hospital admission and homelessness.
Trauma-informed and recovery-focused practice is the baseline, not a differentiator, and naming it earns nothing. What earns marks is showing how it operates: how workers are trained and supervised in it, how a plan is built around a person's own recovery goals, how you respond when someone disengages rather than closing their case, and how the relationship holds through acute illness. Show the method, not the adjective.
A single lot, 50-unit service
This is procured as a single lot. One provider will deliver to a minimum of 50 individuals across the Vale of Glamorgan, so the bid is all or nothing.
Floating support follows the person, not the building. Support is delivered across scattered, mainstream tenancies wherever people live, not from a single scheme. Your model has to show how you cover the Vale of Glamorgan, urban and rural, deploy staff across dispersed visits, and manage caseloads so 50 individuals get consistent support from workers who know them.
How the award is scored
Three criteria: Quality at 60%, Price at 30%, and Community Well-Being Benefits at 10%.
60% of the award turns on your method statements, so that is where the effort goes. Price is scored at 30%: model it against the pricing schedule in the pack rather than pricing on instinct, because the lowest bid does not automatically win when quality carries the larger weight.
Community Well-Being Benefits at 10% is the Welsh equivalent of social value, reflecting the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, which places a well-being duty on Welsh public bodies, and the socially responsible procurement duties that flow from it. 10% is enough to separate close bids, and the benefits must be Welsh and local, tied to the Vale of Glamorgan. Generic social value written for an English contract will not score here.
The mistakes that lose marks
- Using CQC language on a Welsh service. The regulator is Care Inspectorate Wales, and CQC references signal a copied template.
- Claiming a CIW rating. This service is not a CIW-regulated activity, so there is no rating to claim, and asserting one is wrong on the facts.
- Treating recovery and trauma-informed practice as adjectives. Words without method score nothing.
- Writing generic social value instead of Vale of Glamorgan Community Well-Being Benefits under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.
- Ignoring tenancy sustainment outcomes. Sustaining the tenancy is the point of the service, so it must be measured and evidenced.
- Missing the deadline. Submission closes at 12:00pm on 23 September 2026, and it is a hard stop.
A playbook to lift the score
- Weight your effort to the 60%. Quality carries the largest share, so the method statements get the most senior time and redrafting.
- Anchor quality in named standards, statutory duties and outcomes, not an inspection rating you cannot hold.
- Evidence recovery-focused, trauma-informed floating support through method: your support planning, your supervision structure, and how workers are trained to hold relationships through relapse.
- Show tenancy sustainment outcomes with measurable targets: tenancies sustained at 6 and 12 months, arrears reduced, evictions prevented, planned rather than crisis moves.
- Make the 10% Community Well-Being Benefits specific to the Vale of Glamorgan under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015: local recruitment, local supply chains and community partnerships you can deliver in the county.
- Name the multi-agency links: community mental health teams, housing and homelessness services, primary care and the third sector. Show the referral routes and joint working, not a promise to liaise.
- Get an independent pre-submission review before you submit. A second read against the specification and scoring catches the gaps that cost marks.
Mobilisation to the 1 February 2027 go-live
The service starts on 1 February 2027. Between award and go-live sits a standstill period, then mobilisation, giving you roughly 4 to 5 months to stand the service up. Plan it now, because the mobilisation plan is part of what you are scored on.
Use the window to recruit and train the support workers who will hold the caseload, so the team is ready from day one. Referral routes and multi-agency links with community mental health teams, housing and primary care should be live from the start, not negotiated after go-live. Confirm the TUPE position from the tender pack: if staff transfer from an incumbent, the numbers, roles and terms shape both your workforce plan and your price. Build the timeline backwards from 1 February 2027 so every task has an owner and a date.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Vale of Glamorgan mental health tenancy support tender deadline?
Submissions close at 12:00pm on 23 September 2026. It is a hard stop under the open procedure, and late submissions are not accepted.
What is the contract value for the Vale of Glamorgan TESS 5 service?
The contract is valued at £1,302,500 excluding VAT, roughly £1.3m. The initial term runs 1 February 2027 to 31 January 2030, with two 12-month extensions that can take it to 31 January 2032.
Is the Vale of Glamorgan mental health tenancy support contract a single lot?
Yes. It is procured as a single lot under the open procedure of the Procurement Act 2023, with one provider delivering to a minimum of 50 individuals across the Vale of Glamorgan.
Who can bid, and do you need CIW or CQC registration?
Providers of housing-related floating support for people with mental health needs can bid. This is a Welsh service, so the Care Quality Commission does not apply, and floating support without personal care is generally not a CIW-regulated activity, so there is no CIW registration or rating to hold. Confirm the requirements in the tender pack.
How is the Vale of Glamorgan tenancy support tender scored?
The award is Quality 60%, Price 30%, and Community Well-Being Benefits 10%. Community Well-Being Benefits is the Welsh social value criterion under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, and it must be delivered locally in the Vale of Glamorgan to score.
Can TenderLab help us bid for this Welsh contract?
Yes. TenderLab is a sector-exclusive UK health and social care bid-writing consultancy, and Welsh mental health tenancy support sits inside that specialism. TenderLab writes to Care Inspectorate Wales and the Welsh procurement frame, not English regulation.
Do you write the full quality response?
Yes. TenderLab drafts the full quality response against every method statement and award criterion, models the price against the pricing schedule, and shapes the Community Well-Being Benefits commitment. Every engagement includes an independent pre-submission review before submission.
What is a realistic turnaround given the 23 September 2026 deadline?
There is time to produce a complete submission from a standing start. Engaging now allows evidence gathering, drafting and redrafting of the quality responses, and the pre-submission review before the 12:00pm deadline on 23 September 2026.
Work with a sector-exclusive bid team
TenderLab is a sector-exclusive UK health and social care bid-writing consultancy with a 92% win rate across more than 200 UK health and social care submissions. Our writers are evaluator-trained, and most began on the frontline of care before joining us, so they write the way commissioners read. Every engagement includes a pre-submission review. TenderLab is registered at Companies House, number 17184263.
Book a free consultation through our contact page, whether or not we turn out to be the right fit. Ask about our bid-writing service and pre-submission review.
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