The council is looking for contractors that are willing to work with it to investigate alternative funding sources.

Alternative financing is needed to plug the gap between housing need and available resources.

The forward funding is needed until surplus funds are available after year five of its planned investment programme.

Contractors appointed to the four-year Housing Construction Works Framework will be expected to carry out a range of work.

This will range from large scale refurbishment projects to the backlog of decent homes work. There will also be a programme of new homes building.

The approved capital programme London Borough of Barking and Dagenham for the years 2011/12 to 2013/14 is £40.3m, £13.5m and £13.5m respectively.

The lower approved sums for later years are partly because potential capital receipts and capital grants have not yet been identified.

So the likely funding gap in later years will not be as big as it is at first sight, but the council warned there will still be a significant shortfall.

The framework could be used by the East London Solutions group of councils, which consists of Havering, Redbridge, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest as well as Barking and Dagenham.

Interested firms have until 5 September to prequalify for the framework tendering process. Contact [email protected] for more information.

Further details relating to ELS can be found at this website:http://www.eastlondonsolutions.org/Pages/home.aspx.