Best practice guide to efficient, compliant procurement that creates value

Social housing procurement teams face a genuine trilemma, and the right tools make all the difference

Procurement in social housing has always meant balancing three things at once: staying legally compliant, working efficiently with limited resources, and going beyond the lowest price to deliver real value for residents and communities. Get the balance wrong and the consequences range from wasted time and budget to legal challenge and reputational damage.

Frameworks, Dynamic Purchasing Systems and the new Dynamic Markets introduced by the Procurement Act 2023 are designed to solve exactly this problem. Used well, they give social landlords a fast, compliant and value-driven route to market without the burden of running a full standalone procurement exercise every time. This guide explains how each tool works, when to use it, and how to get the most from it in practice.

Whether you are calling off a framework for the first time, planning your transition away from DPS ahead of the 2029 deadline, or exploring what Dynamic Markets mean for your organisation under the new legislation, this is the practical starting point you need.

Inside this free guide:

This detailed guide covers the full procurement toolkit available to social landlords, including::

• Framework agreements and how to use them effectively How framework agreements work as pre-approved supplier catalogues, when to use direct award versus mini-competition, the legislative transition from PCR 2015 to the Procurement Act 2023, and the best practice steps that protect compliance and drive value on every call-off.
• Dynamic Purchasing Systems, what they are and the 2029 deadline you need to know about How DPS agreements work, why their open and competitive nature makes them particularly effective for SME and local supplier engagement, and why every organisation currently using a DPS needs to be planning its transition now ahead of the hard expiry deadline of 23 February 2029.
• Dynamic Markets, the new PA23 procurement vehicle How Dynamic Markets replace the DPS for new procurements under the Procurement Act 2023, what the key differences are including broader scope, targeted supplier selection and structured sub-categories, and why they are well suited to social landlords managing Awaab’s Law timelines, decarbonisation programmes and social value requirements.
• How to unlock economic, social and environmental value through procurement How the shift from lowest price to Most Advantageous Tender works in practice, how frameworks and Dynamic Markets can be used to reduce whole-life costs, support local economies, target SMEs, drive sustainability and embed community benefit into every contract from the outset.
• Running an effective mini-competition A step-by-step overview of best practice for mini-competitions under frameworks, DPS and Dynamic Markets, covering specification writing, evaluation criteria, ITT development, clarification management, fair scoring and meaningful feedback.
• A project manager’s procurement checklist A four-phase checklist covering scoping and strategy, preparing the mini-competition, running the process and evaluation, and award and mobilisation, giving project managers a consistent, compliance-ready framework to follow from first need to contract start.

Essential for procurement professionals and project managers in social housing

• Housing association procurement leads and project managers who need a clear, practical overview of the tools available to them under both PCR 2015 and the Procurement Act 2023
• Teams currently using DPS agreements who need to understand the 2029 transitional deadline and plan their migration to Dynamic Markets in good time
• Anyone responsible for delivering compliant, efficient procurement who wants to go beyond tick-box compliance and use frameworks and Dynamic Markets as genuine drivers of social, environmental and economic value

Getting procurement right in social housing means more than avoiding legal risk. It means using every contract as an opportunity to improve housing outcomes, support local communities and demonstrate that public money is being spent with purpose and accountability. The tools in this guide make that possible without adding unnecessary complexity or burden to already stretched teams.

Download your free guide now and start using frameworks, Dynamic Purchasing Systems and Dynamic Markets to their full potential.