Ministry of Justice issues tender for £16m-worth of estates-related legal advice

The contract, which is due to last for 48 months from 21 October 2013, will cover a wide range of potential matters, including:

• The purchase of freehold or leasehold properties;
• The sale of freehold or leasehold properties, including preparation of title reports and Crichel Down investigation;
• The grant of leases (acting for the MoJ as either landlord or tenant) and associated management documents including service of notices and counter-notices under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954;
• Lease renewals (acting for the MoJ as either landlord or tenant) including service of notices and counter-notices under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954;
• Termination and surrender of leases and subleases and tenancies (acting for the MoJ as either landlord or tenant) including service of notices;
• Dilapidations (interim and final);
• Rent reviews (acting for the MoJ as either landlord or tenant);
• Easements, wayleaves and other similar arrangements;
• Advice on all property related matters, including interpretation of tenure and related documents and development of generic documents e.g. leases memoranda etc;
• Property litigation and/or alternative dispute resolution, including liaising with MoJ Legal and/or counsel, arising from statutory, contractual (including landlord and tenant) or neighbourly property issues;
• Planning agreements;
• Clawback and overage arrangements;
• Assignment of leases and sub-leases;
• Public private partnerships, including private developer schemes and private finance initiative schemes – all services including service agreements;
• Advice on market testing exercises (e.g. prisons); and
• Any other services requested by the MoJ.

The notice suggests that the contract is not suitable for smaller suppliers. A bidders’ conference will be held on 24 May. The deadline date for responding to the tender opportunity is 21 June 2013.

The contract will be awarded on the basis of the most economically advantageous tender in terms of the criteria set out by the MoJ in the contract documents.