£2.48 Billion raised so far in Government Sale of Land and Property

Sales of surplus Government land and property between April 2017 and March 2018 have generated £0.75 billion from 401 sites. Added to the receipts generated in the first two years of the Land Disposals programme sales have generated £2.48 billion since April 2015 from 1,537 sites.

There were 535 site disposals in 2015/16 which generated £1.064 billion in receipts. Including retrospective reporting, there were 599 sales in 2016/17 which generated £0.66 billion in receipts. These are the gross sales values.

In addition to disposals within the United Kingdom listed within this report, Departments are also continuously working to deliver a more efficient estate overseas. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office raised £448.9 million in 2017/18 through the sale of eight sites.

Department of Health and Social Care

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS Property Services and NHS Trusts and Foundation Trusts have disposed of 113 surplus sites between April 2017 and March 2018, generating £266 million in receipts from unconditional sales.

Over the first three years of the land disposals programme, DHSC has generated a total of £752 million.

In 2016, DHSC commissioned a review by Sir Robert Naylor to examine how the NHS can make the best use of its estate to support the NHS’s Five Year Forward View. The review was published in March 2017 and highlights the opportunities available to support Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs) and optimise the use of NHS land and buildings. In January 2018, the Government published its detailed response to Sir Robert’s review, setting out measures to modernise the NHS estate. The response included a commitment to raising £3.3 billion of additional capital from the disposal of surplus land, together with additional government funds of £3.9 billion over the next five years, supplemented by private finance (where it represents value for money).

Between the March 2017 and November 2018 Budget, an additional capital of £1.4 billion has been announced to support STPs.

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence has disposed of 22 sites between April 2017 and March 2018, which generated £173.3 million in receipts. Over the first three years of the Land Disposals Programme, the Ministry of Defence has generated £610 million through the sale of 83 sites.

The disposals are part of MODs intent to optimise the use of the defence estate, as more latterly outlined in the Better Defence Estate Strategy, published in November 2016. This is to support military capability by providing a smaller but better estate for the armed forces and their families out to 2040 and beyond. This long term plan will support the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 undertaking to reduce the size of the defence built estate by 30%.

Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and Homes England

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and Homes England have undertaken 128 disposals between April 2017 and March 2018, which generated £119.5 million in receipts. Over the first two years of the Land Disposals Programme MHCLG generated £378.3 million, this brings the total over the full three years to £498 million.

In October 2018 Homes England launched their 5-Year Strategic Plan for how they will help more people in England access better homes in the right places. The plan outlines the ambitious new mission and the steps that they will take, in partnership with all parts of the housing industry sector, to respond to the long-term housing challenges facing the country.

Homes England published an update Land Development and Disposal Plan in June 2018 complete with an interactive map. Their map shows sites being marketed and/or planned for disposal over the next 12 months. MHCLG is also the lead Government Department for housing policy and Government’s commitment to release land for 160,000 new homes by 2020.

Homes England enables a range of development across England through varied funding streams, aimed at infrastructure, affordable housing, and land assembly.

Department for Transport

Department for Transport, Network Rail, London and Continental Railways, and smaller landowning Arms-Length Bodies have disposed of 65 sites between April 2017 and March 2018, which generated £28 million in receipts. Since the publication of last year’s Transparency Report DfT has also reported a further £10 million of sales for the financial year 2016/17. The total receipts generated by DfT over the first three years of the Land disposals programme is £240 million.

Following the 2016 announcement of the Network Rail Property Board the organisation has disposed of property to support its business ambitions. Network Rail has recently exchanged on a landmark transaction which has involved agreeing terms with Telereal Trillium and Blackstone Property Partners for the sale of its commercial estate portfolio. Proceeds from the £1.46 billion transactions will help fund the railway upgrade plan, bringing major improvements for passengers and reducing the need for taxpayers to fund the railway.

Other Departments

Other Departments have also contributed to the asset disposals programme. They have in total disposed of 33 sites between April 2017 and March 2018, which generated £70.6 million in receipts. These Departments include Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Source: Gov.org