Most social housing schemes go to tender with the procurement method already assumed. You get competitive pricing - but all three contractors are answering the same unquestioned brief. Optioneering tests the brief itself, before you commit to it.
We are practitioners of PAS 8700 and BSI FLEX 390 - the standards that govern quality and performance in systems-based housing delivery. That means we understand what good looks like across the full range of delivery methods, not just from the outside looking in.
Twenty years of working directly inside the supply chain - with manufacturers, contractors, and delivery partners across traditional build, panelised, timber frame and manufactured approaches - means our recommendations are grounded in what the market can actually deliver.
Straightforward engagement. We agree the scope, run the optioneering, and hand you a recommendation you can act on. Fees are fixed before we start, scaled to scheme size and complexity.
Proper optioneering surfaces value that a single assumed route leaves on the table. On a recent evaluation, testing three routes identified a 25% gap between the weakest and strongest option.
Housing associations and local authority development teams across the North West and beyond.
Once a site comes forward, most teams settle on a route based on what's in front of them - a preferred contractor's input, a scheme they've done before, a consultant's default. That's not evidence. That's familiarity.
We test what's actually possible across the full range of delivery options - traditional build, panelised systems, timber frame and manufactured approaches where the evidence supports it. We don't start with a preferred method. We go directly to contractors and supply partners to find out what each route costs and what it delivers in practice - not what a tender document says.
The output is a clear recommendation you can act on and defend. Not more information to manage.
Testing three routes against the same site revealed a 25% gap between the weakest and strongest option.
Traditional build, panelised, timber frame and manufactured options - all assessed against the same measures. The right answer wins, not the fashionable one.
We go to manufacturers. Real costs. Real confidence levels on programme and specification. Not desk estimates.
Committing to the wrong delivery route isn't a mistake you can fix at Gateway.
It's a ceiling the scheme carries for its entire life.
We establish your priorities: cost constraints, risk tolerance, performance standards, timeline. We review any existing proposals - including what has already been assumed about the route.
Two or three distinct delivery routes. Different construction methods, specifications, supply chain approaches. Enough detail to test feasibility and cost - not enough to waste time on dead ends.
We take the alternatives to potential suppliers. Structured conversations. Can they build to this spec? What is their confidence on cost and programme? Where does the design need to change to improve efficiency? Real answers, on record.
We recommend the route that best suits your priorities - which may be your original proposal if the analysis confirms it. Either way, we prepare a summary for your conversation with the landowner and your board.
Drop us a message. No commitment, no pitch - just a conversation about what the site needs. We respond within one working day.
Thank you. We'll be in touch within one working day.