The Home Office has signed a £1.2m contract with modular builder Reds10 to design the MOD Bicester asylum site. No planning decision has been published yet.

The Home Office has signed a £1.2 million contract to design the asylum accommodation at MOD Bicester Site A. The work went to Reds10 (UK) Ltd, a London modular building firm, on 3 November. The government has still not published a planning decision for the site.

The contract is worth £1,204,648.97 including VAT. It appeared on Contracts Finder on Monday 9 November under the title “Bicester - Modular Solutions”.

What the contract covers

The Home Office describes it as a two-stage design and build deal. Only the first stage has been signed. The notice says:

  • Stage 1 is “RIBA 3-4 Detailed Design”, worth £1,204,648.97
  • it started on 3 November 2026 and is due to finish on 5 January 2027
  • it was called off a government framework, RM6184 Offsite Construction Solutions, rather than tendered openly
  • the Home Office has “no commitment” to sign the Stage 2 building contract
  • a further notice will be published if it does

RIBA stages 3 and 4 are the points in the RIBA Plan of Work where a scheme’s layout is coordinated and its technical design is drawn up in enough detail to build from.

The signed contract is attached to the notice, with parts blacked out. It is an NEC4 short contract between the Home Secretary and Reds10, and it names the site as “MOD 015 - Bicester”. The description of the works is redacted after the words “RIBA stages 3 & 4”. One clause bars Reds10 from making any press announcement about the job without the Home Office’s written approval.

Who Reds10 is

Reds10 builds schools, prisons and military housing off site. Its own news page lists recent work including Army accommodation at Upavon, a project at RAF Cosford and the expansion of HMP Kirklevington Grange. It had published nothing about Bicester by Wednesday 11 November.

Where the planning application stands

The application asks for temporary use of the former defence storage and distribution site for up to 1,256 asylum seekers, in modular buildings. Site A is about 4.75km from Bicester, closest to the village of Piddington. Cherwell District Council does not decide it: the Secretary of State does, under the urgent Crown development route.

The GOV.UK page for the application, reference PCU/RARE/C3105/3378843, has not changed since 4 September. On 11 November it still gave the status as “Representation period”, which closed on 17 September. No decision has been published there.

What it means for you

  • Nothing has been approved. A design contract is not planning permission, and the Home Office says it may never sign the building stage.
  • The next marker is 5 January 2027, when the design stage is due to finish. A building contract would need its own public notice.
  • The decision will be published on GOV.UK. The application documents can also be inspected at Cherwell’s offices at 39 Castle Quay, Banbury, according to the same page.

We will report the Stage 2 notice, or the planning decision, when either appears.