How do you find council and housing association tenders?
Search Find a Tender, the government's notice service, and save a search so it emails you new notices: a council that advertises a contract worth £30,000 or more including VAT must publish a tender notice there first. Then register on each buyer's own e-tendering portal, because that is where you download the documents and bid. On 20 October 2026, the 86 live council and housing association repairs tenders in our index used 29 different portal addresses.
The figures below come from our live index of tenders in our sectors, rebuilt every night from Find a Tender. The rules come from GOV.UK guidance on the Procurement Act 2023, checked on 20 October 2026.
Where council and housing association tenders are published
| Where | What you find there | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Find a Tender | Notices for contracts under the Procurement Act 2023, including below-threshold ones a buyer chooses to advertise. Save a search to get an email when new notices match. | Free |
| The buyer's e-tendering portal | The tender documents, clarification questions and answers, and where you submit. Named in each notice. | Usually free to register |
| Contracts Finder | Notices from before the Procurement Act 2023, and procurements still run under the old rules. | Free |
| Frameworks and approved lists | Work called off without a new public notice. You need to be on the framework or list first. | Varies |
Sources: GOV.UK guidance on the Central Digital Platform (updated 23 June 2026) and on below-threshold contracts (updated 13 July 2026), checked 20 October 2026.
How can an electrical contractor find council and housing association tenders in England?
Save a Find a Tender search using the words buyers put in their titles: electrical testing, EICR, periodic inspection, rewires and electrical installation. Then search the lots of wider responsive repairs and compliance tenders too, because electrical work is often one lot of a bigger contract. On 20 October 2026 our index held 7 live tenders with electrical work in the title or a lot title, all of them in England and 4 from housing associations.
That is a small number at any one time, so a weekly check matters more than a daily one. Electrical work also sits inside responsive repairs contracts whose titles don't name it, which this count leaves out.
Live electrical tenders, contracts due to end and the main buyers by region: East Midlands, London, West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber.
What's the best way for a small building maintenance firm to get tender alerts for council work?
Start with the free option: a saved search on Find a Tender, which emails you when a new notice matches it. Set one search per trade, using the words buyers use (responsive repairs, voids, planned maintenance, building maintenance), and narrow it to the regions you can cover. Then register on the portals of the councils and housing associations you want to work for, because some send their own alerts and you need an account to bid.
If you want the matching done for you, our Bid Radar sends the tenders that fit your trades and area every week, with a calendar of contracts due to end, for £49 a month. The free Bid Matcher shows the live ones that fit your firm today.
Which portals do councils and housing associations use?
Many different ones. Of the 86 live council and housing association repairs tenders in our index on 20 October 2026, 81 named a submission portal, across 29 different web addresses:
| Portal platform | Live repairs tenders |
|---|---|
| In-Tend | 14 |
| Delta eSourcing | 11 |
| ProContract | 8 |
| Proactis | 6 |
| Jaggaer (including BravoSolution) | 6 |
| EU-Supply | 6 |
| Atamis | 5 |
| Other portals, including buyers' own | 25 |
Platform from the portal's web address, as named in each Find a Tender notice. Councils and housing associations only, repairs and maintenance trades, England and Wales, index built 20 October 2026.
You may need a separate account for each buyer, even on the same platform. Register when you first spot a buyer you want to work for, not on the day of a deadline.
Are smaller council contracts advertised?
Often, yes. Under the Procurement Act 2023, a council that chooses to advertise a contract worth £30,000 or more including VAT must first publish a below-threshold tender notice on the Central Digital Platform (for central government the figure is £12,000). 27 of the 86 live council and housing association repairs tenders in our index on 20 October 2026 were below-threshold open competitions.
A council doesn't have to advertise below the main thresholds: it can ask a few suppliers for quotes instead. So it is worth asking the procurement teams you want to work with how they buy smaller jobs and how to get on their lists.
Found one worth bidding for? Our guides to winning housing association repairs contracts and how tenders are scored cover what comes next.
Questions
Is Find a Tender free?
Yes. Searching Find a Tender and saving a search so it emails you new notices costs nothing. Some buyers' e-tendering portals are free to register on too; check each one.
Do I still need Contracts Finder?
Mainly for older notices. Under the Procurement Act 2023, notices go on the Central Digital Platform (Find a Tender) instead of Contracts Finder. Procurements started before 24 February 2025 can still run under the old rules, so some older contracts only appear on Contracts Finder.
Will every council contract be advertised?
No. A council that advertises a contract worth £30,000 or more including VAT must publish a tender notice on the Central Digital Platform first. But it can invite quotes from a few chosen suppliers without advertising, and it can call off work from a framework it already has. Getting onto those lists and frameworks matters as much as watching for notices.
What is the difference between Find a Tender and a tender portal?
Find a Tender is where the notice is published. The portal named in the notice (In-Tend, Delta, ProContract and others) is where you download the documents, ask questions and submit your bid. You usually register on each portal separately.
Can you find tenders for me?
Yes. The free Bid Matcher checks your website against the live repairs and care tenders in England and Wales. Bid Radar sends matched tenders every week and a calendar of contracts due to end, for £49 a month.
Sources
- GOV.UK, Buyers and suppliers: how to use the Central Digital Platform (the enhanced Find a Tender service). Updated 23 June 2026: saved searches and email alerts. Checked 20 October 2026
- GOV.UK, Procurement Act 2023 guidance: below-threshold contracts. Updated 13 July 2026: when a below-threshold tender notice is required, the £12,000 and £30,000 thresholds including VAT, Contracts Finder. Checked 20 October 2026
- Find a Tender. The UK government's notice service
- ClearBid live tender index (scripts/finding-tenders-findings.mts). Live tenders in our sectors from Find a Tender, England and Wales, index built 20 October 2026. src/data/open-tenders.json: live tenders in our sectors from Find a Tender, England and Wales, built nightly by pipeline/build_index.py. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Spotted something wrong? See how our figures are built and how to report a correction.