Base One Holdings:
The £18.86m Contract

What We Know

On 31 December 2025 — New Year's Eve — Brighton & Hove City Council signed a contract awarding Base One Holdings Ltd the management of 209 units of temporary accommodation, worth £18.86 million over six years. The contract was not put out to competitive tender. Instead, the council used urgency provisions under Procurement Act 2023 Schedule 5 to bypass the standard competitive process entirely.

Base One Holdings Ltd was incorporated in May 2023 — just two and a half years before the contract was awarded. According to Companies House records, the company reported total assets of £55,000 at incorporation. That figure represents less than 0.3% of the contract value. The contract equates to approximately £3,143,488.40 per year, or around £41 per unit per night across 209 units.

The council's temporary accommodation estate comprises approximately 520 nightly units as of November 2025, meaning this single contract covers roughly 40% of the council's total temporary housing provision. The decision was signed by the Council Leader under officer delegated powers, without a full committee vote. The published decision record states the urgency was due to "the risk of accommodation supply gaps in temporary housing services."

The council's temporary accommodation budget for 2025–26 is £28 million, against a forecast overspend of £4.8 million. The coalition's concern is not that temporary housing needs management — it clearly does — but that a contract of this scale and duration was awarded through a process that provides no public assurance of value for money, no competitive pricing, and no independent scrutiny of the provider's capacity to deliver.

What the Coalition Is Calling For

The coalition has identified four specific demands arising from this contract. We are calling on the Council Leader, the Audit & Standards Committee, and the council's procurement function to act.

1. Full publication of the procurement justification under Procurement Act 2023 Schedule 5, including all evidence relied upon to support the urgency claim.

2. Independent audit of the £18.86m contract by the Council's Audit & Standards Committee, including due diligence on Base One Holdings' capacity, assets, and track record.

3. Competitive tender for any contract renewal or extension, with no further use of urgency provisions for this procurement category.

4. The Council Leader to provide a full written public statement explaining why this contract was necessary, why urgency provisions were used, and how value for money was assessed.