PRESS RELEASE : Over £1 billion generated from more efficient use of Government property [December 2023]

The press release issued by the Cabinet Office on 21 December 2023.

New figures, published today in the Government Estate Annual Data Publication, confirm £1.1 billion of property sales have been achieved in the past year.

• A new report confirming the size, value, and cost of Government properties in 2022/23 has been published
• In the first year there were 306 property disposals, from 8 departments, generating a combined total of £1.1 billion
• Government is on track to meeting its target of achieving £1.5 billion in property disposals by 2025, as outlined in the Government Property Strategy

£1.1 billion has been generated over the course of the last year, through a major drive to make more efficient use of Government land and buildings.

New figures, published today in the Government Estate Annual Data Publication, confirm £1.1 billion of property sales have been achieved in the past year, meaning more than two thirds of the three-year target has been delivered in the first twelve months.

Cabinet Office Minister Alex Burghart said:

We want to make government more efficient in all areas as we change this country for the better, and today’s report shows the public estate is playing its part.

We’re clear we want to see a smaller, better, and greener public estate and we want to use public property to stimulate economic growth and create opportunities for jobs and regeneration.

Those were the principles we built our Government Property Strategy around and I am pleased we have made such impressive progress in just the first year.

The actions the Government is taking to deliver these efficiencies include its work to consolidate how many buildings public services are provided from – creating multi-department, integrated buildings and offices.

Government land and property is only disposed of when it is no longer needed to support public service delivery, or where there is an opportunity to make better use of the property for regeneration such as residential or commercial developments.

Over the period covered by this report, there were 180 land disposals that raised £222.2m. The majority of these land disposals were made by Homes England, who sold 112 land assets, accounting for approximately 500 hectares. The land sold by Homes England is expected to unlock development opportunities for over 5,000 houses and facilitate regeneration projects across the UK.

The Ministry of Defence disposed of 24 assets over the course of the year, raising £65.1m. In addition, NHS Trusts sold 21 sites that raised £34.3m, and NHS Property Services disposed of 5 five secondary health care sites which raised an additional £4.6m.

This report is a precursor to the annual State of the Estate Report, which provides the full picture of the size, makeup, value, and performance of the public estate. The State of the Estate report will be published in early 2024, as per the usual schedule.