Purpose of This Publication

Introduction

The purpose of this publication is to provide an overview of government estate portfolios for the year ending 31 March 2024. In addition, it will support publications such as the annual State of the Estate report by providing data on which it can deliver requirements under the Climate Change Act 2008.^{[footnote 1]}

This report is accompanied by a set of data tables which are available on GOV.UK. The report and data tables should be considered in conjunction with each other. The aim of this report is to enable readers to understand the context of the government estate, data collection, and analysis methodology, and its limitations. This report also contains summary tables and charts with commentary.

Across the government estate, this report provides a summary of:

• Size and composition of estate portfolios
  • Number of assets
  • Size
• Running of the estate portfolios
  • Value
  • Cost
  • Acquisitions
  • Disposals

 Key Definitions

Government Portfolio Overview

1.1 Introduction to Portfolios

The government estate is made up of land and property owned or occupied by central government departments, executive agencies, executive non-departmental public bodies and government companies. This publication captures information on the operational and administrative estate, which includes offices, galleries, museums, railways and roads, defence, NHS and prisons, and parts of the public sector estate such as schools.

This publication categorises the estate into a series of portfolios: some deliver direct public services including schools, the health service, courts and tribunals, the probation service, prisons, Jobcentres and cultural assets; others support government activity in the public interest, including the defence estate, science, offices, logistics and storage and land. These are described in the table below:

 Table 1: Government Property Portfolios

	Portfolio Description
Courts and Tribunals	Operational courts and tribunal buildings including any associated space used as administrative buildings and/or storage sites.
Cultural Assets	Museums (including front of house and back office estate where relevant), galleries, libraries, cinemas, including art storage, where relevant.
Defence	Built assets and land from which the Ministry of Defence (MOD) lives, works, trains, operates and deploys military capability. The Defence portfolio also includes maritime, airfield, rail to support and enable defence operations and the overseas defence estate.
Health	NHS Trust hospitals (secondary care), health clinics and community hospitals (primary care) and residential and care facilities (other).
Infrastructure	Transport, energy, digital (telecommunications), waste, wastewater and sewage, and flood defences.
Jobcentres	Jobcentres and assessment centres.
Land	Land that is not directly associated with buildings, which includes (but is not limited to) training land, nature conservations, woodlands and lakes. The land portfolio excludes land related to the defence estate which is reported under the Defence portfolio.
Logistics and Storage	Includes but is not limited to document stores, fuel testing barns, salt barns, vehicle depots, motorway service compounds.
Office	Offices include front of house, HQ, service supporting and serviced offices and IT/data/call centres. It does not include public-facing office accommodation that is ancillary to the primary purpose of that building (e.g. a school, prison, Jobcentres etc.).
Overseas	All assets outside the UK.
Prisons	Prisons, prison officers’ quarters and other associated buildings.
Probation	Probation centres, contact centres and approved premises.
Schools	State-funded educational establishments providing nursery, primary or secondary-phase education, and some further education establishments (but not privately owned and operated nursery schools that do not share their buildings with schools).
	The scope of this report includes data on the number and floor area of all state-funded schools as reported through the Condition Data Collection (CDC); this is a five-yearly programme, and data sourced from the CDC is updated at that frequency, with the most recent update in 2021 and based on information collected in the period 2017–19.
	Valuation and premises cost data relate to academies only. This data is reported on an academic year basis (1 September–31 August) and not by financial year. The most recent update relates to data for the academic year to 31 August 2023.
Science	Laboratories, science sites and research facilities.
Remaining Estate	All assets which cannot be categorised into the above portfolios or where a breakdown of the estate is not available.

1.2 Estate Summary

The Estate Summary shows an aggregated snapshot view of all portfolios. This publication contains revised figures where organisations have made changes to their previously reported data.

 Figure 1: Estate Headline Data

 Table 2: Estate Summary

Appendix D contains notes relevant to this data table

Symbols used within this table: (z) = Not Applicable, (x) = Not available

Value	Sub Value	Unit	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	Change 2022–23 – 2023–24 (note 9)
Number of Assets		Number	207.5k	206.1k	203.3k	-1.4%
	Built Assets	Number	184.8k	183.0k	180.9k	-1.2%
	Land Assets	Number	22.6k	23.1k	22.4k	-2.9%
Total Floor Area (note 1)		m2	160.2m	159.7m	159.5m	-0.1%
	Freehold	m2	130.8m	129.9m	132.7m	2.2%
	Leasehold	m2	11.4m	11.6m	12.4m	7.0%
	PFI (note 10)	m2	12.2m	12.3m	12.0m	-2.4%
	Other	m2	5.8m	6.1m	2.4m	[z]
Vacant Floor Area		m2	585.2k	635.5k	547.7k	-13.8%
Surplus Floor Area (note 2)		m2	830.0k	662.0k	739.7k	11.7%
Land Area		ha	626.4k	628.9k	628.4k	-0.1%
Surplus Land Area (note 2)		ha	719	261	387	48.3%
Freehold Value (note 3)		£	177.8bn	181.3bn	191.5bn	5.6%
Total Running Cost (note 4)(note 8) (note 15)		£	22.8bn	23.7bn	25.6bn	8.0%
	Annual Rent for Leaseholds (note 4)	£	2.6bn	2.4bn	2.4bn	1.7%
	Annual Rates	£	(x)	1.2bn	1.3bn	6.8%
	Security Costs	£	(x)	451.9m	569.9m	26.1%
	Soft FM	£	(x)	6.4bn	7.0bn	9.4%
	Hard FM (note 5)	£	(x)	3.9bn	4.3bn	8.1%
	Other Costs	£	(x)	6.8bn	7.2bn	4.5%
	Academy Premises Costs	£	2.3bn	2.5bn	2.9bn	(z) [footnote 2]
Number of Buildings Requiring an EPC		Number	5,715	6,209	6,048	-2.6%
	Number of Buildings EPC A-C	Number	2,504	2,728	21,385	(z)
New Acquisitions (note 6)		Number	(x)	284	512	(z)
Number of Disposals (note 7)		Number	(x)	344	228	(z)
Disposal Proceeds (note 7)		£	(x)	1.2bn	449.9m	(z)

In 2023–24, the number of built assets forming the government estate stood at 180,908, a decrease of 1.2% on 2022-23. This is primarily a result of the Defence Estate Optimisation (DEO) Portfolio, which is a major estates change programme within the MoD, investing £5.1 billion in modern, greener and more sustainable infrastructure. Built assets across the Defence estate decreased by 2.5% to 93,377 assets (a reduction of 2,373 assets).

A contributing decrease was observed in the Jobcentre portfolio as a result of the release of the Rapid Estate Expansion Programme (REEP) assets. These assets were onboarded by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) at the outset of the pandemic. The Office portfolio also saw a decrease overall; this can be partially attributed to asset reviews in 2023–24 by the Forestry Commission (FC) and NHS Property Services, which has resulted in changes to classified uses of assets – rather than representing a material change in the government estate.

Conversely, the Health portfolio reported an increase in assets which related to NHS trusts increasing their estate to meet levels of demand – for example, through the renting of office space for administration activities and through moves to make space for more clinical or operational activity.

In 2023–24 floor area across the estate remained stable. Some movement was observed between tenure types, this primarily relates to the Defence portfolio where a substantial data reconciliation exercise was performed, which has resulted in improvements to floor area reporting. Additionally, this year, the MoD has captured the EPC details of almost 19 thousand buildings on their Infrastructure Management System. The vast majority of MoD built assets are exempt from EPCs as a result of their age of construction, EPC data relates to new builds and leases.

The value of the estate increased by 5.6% to £191.5 billion in 2023–24. The Health, School and Prison portfolios drove this increase. The freehold value of the Health portfolio increased by £6.4 billion (10.7%) in 2023–24. This was driven by the secondary care sector and NHS England in particular, who reported the completion of several capital projects, including the construction of new buildings, blocks and extensions.^{[footnote 3]} The Prison portfolio, following a valuation reflecting local land evidence, recorded a £0.5 billion increase in valuation.

There has been a year-on-year increase in the number of schools classified as academies. Academy valuation data and premises costs are therefore not directly comparable over time due to year-on-year increases in the number of schools included. As of January 2024, 43.5% of all schools were academies.

The running costs of the estate (£25.6 billion) increased by 8.0% in 2023–24. This increase was primarily a result of cost increases in the Health portfolio. Inflationary pressures were a key driver for this. Cost pressures have intensified due to numerous service contracts being linked to relevant inflation indices in hard and soft FM services. The NHS estate saw 9.8 million more attendances^{[footnote 4]} in 2023–24 compared with 2022-23 as well as a growth in floor area. The combination of these two factors has contributed to the in-year increase in occupancy costs. Increases in the running costs of the defence estate, which reflects a mix of increased investment, inflation and efficiency measures, also contributed to the overall increase across the estate.

In 2023–24 there were 228 disposals from ten departments. The total gross disposal receipts from confirmed unconditional sales amounted to £449.9 million.

1.3 Estate Location

In 2023–24, built assets across the estate had a combined floor area of 159.5 million m². Land across the estate covered an area of approximately 628,400ha in 2023–24.

 Figure 2: Estate Floor Area (Million m²) by Region, 2023–24

((Image of Figure 2))

The Schools portfolio occupies the largest proportion of floor area across the estate (49.4%) and its floor area spans from 3.9 million m² in the North East to 12.6 and 12.2 million m² in London and the South East respectively. The Defence portfolio accounts for a further 19.7% of estate floor area, primarily situated in the South West and South East (totalling 14.4 million m² across the two regions). The Health portfolio occupies a further 18.8% of estate floor area, while London, the North West and South East account for 14.2 million m² (17%, 16.4% and 13.9% of total Health portfolio floor area respectively).

The South East contains the largest floor area proportion of any region, with 26.1 million m² or 16.4% of the total government estate floor area in 2023–24. London, the North West, South West and East of England follow, each accounting for between 10% and 14% of floor area. Taken together, these five regions comprise the majority of the estate’s floor area, 64.5% or 109.9 million m².

Land

Figure 3: Estate Land Area (hectares) by Region, 2023–24

((Image of Figure 3))

Within this report, only land that is not directly associated with buildings is included. This land includes (but is not limited to) training land, nature conservations, woodlands and lakes. Land assets such as those bordering prisons or surrounding office spaces and cultural assets are out of scope of this report. Land related to the defence estate is reported under the Defence portfolio.

Two departments account for the vast majority of government land assets, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Forestry Commission (FC), representing 54.4% and 40.1% of the total land area respectively. Thus, the regional breakdown is driven by regions in which the Ministry of Defence and Forestry Commission have the strongest presence.

By region, the largest proportion of the government land estate is located in the North East of England, comprising 25.2% of the total land area, driven jointly by large Forestry Commission and Ministry of Defence estates, 82,700ha and 74,900ha respectively.

The South West contains the next largest proportion of land area, comprising 17.8% or 111,900ha; this is driven by a strong Ministry of Defence presence in the region. The South East, the East of England and Scotland together accounted for around a further third (34.2%) of Central Government land area in 2023–24.

 Table 3: Size of the Government Estate by Region, 2023–24

2023–24	Floor Area (a)		Land Area
	m2	Percentage	ha	Percentage
Total area	159.5m	100.0%	628.4k	100.0%
East Midlands (England)	11.5m	7.2%	31.7k	5.0%
East of England	16.5m	10.4%	66.2k	10.5%
London	22.0m	13.8%	1.4k	0.2%
North East (England)	7.0m	4.4%	158.7k	25.2%
North West (England)	19.7m	12.4%	23.9k	3.8%
South East (England)	26.1m	16.4%	83.4k	13.3%
South West (England)	18.6m	11.7%	111.9k	17.8%
West Midlands (England)	15.0m	9.4%	21.0k	3.3%
Yorkshire and the Humber	14.7m	9.2%	37.0k	5.9%
Wales	1.6m	1.0%	24.9k	4.0%
Scotland	2.9m	1.8%	65.5k	10.4%
Northern Ireland	0.7m	0.4%	1.8k	0.3%
Overseas	2.8m	1.7%	0.0k	0.0%
Unknown	0.5m	0.3%	1.1k	0.2%

Government Portfolio Data Collection and Analysis Methodology

The data contained within this publication is collected to report on the government estate. The key aspects of data collection and analysis methodology are provided below.

2.1 Data Collection

Data Commission

In 2020-21, the Office of Government Property (OGP) expanded the data collection from the small general purpose estate or the central civil estate^{[footnote 5]} (primarily offices) to the whole of the government estate. The expansion was enabled by data commissioned at an aggregated portfolio level on all of the government estate. Data is commissioned from central government departments, executive agencies, executive non-departmental public bodies and government companies. In 2023–24, 137 organisations were approached for data.

The following data were collected through the commission for 2023–24:

• Aggregate data, as contained in the accompanying data tables on GOV.UK, for each portfolio, in each organisation
• Revisions to previous years’ data if relevant

Acquisitions

Previous data collection on new acquisitions of property into the estate have not included information on the portfolio into which they are categorised. Since 2022-23, this data has been collected and is presented in this report.

Disposals

Since 2022-23, property disposal data has been collected outside of the above commission as part of the OGP Disposals programme. Summary data on unconditional sales from 2022-23 only is aggregated at portfolio level for presentation in this publication.

Scope

Most portfolios cover property managed by central government throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. Estates managed by the Devolved Administrations are out of scope.

2.2 Quality Assurance

The OGP set the standard of reporting supported by the Government Property Data Standard.^{[footnote 6]} OGP implements a variety of methods to assure data, as outlined below:

• All data must be cleared and confirmed as accurate within the data-owning organisation.
• OGP conducts validation checks on data received to identify inconsistencies or material year-on-year changes which are questioned and resolved through discussion with the data-owning organisations.
• OGP ensures, through tools such as cross-government data governance and frequently asked questions, that methods, processes and practices are consistent as far as practicable.

 2.3 Data Analysis

Inflation Adjustments

The previous years’ running costs, and the individual components, have been adjusted for inflation in line with services producer price inflation deflators^{[footnote 7]} as at March each year. (Asset) values have not been inflation adjusted, as explained below.

Freehold (Asset) Values

Freehold property assets are valued on different bases, outlined below:

• Depreciation Replacement Cost (DRC)
• Existing Use Value (EUV)
• Market Value (MV)
• Other – UK estate
• Other – Non-UK estate

To provide a high-level estimate of total value, estimates of different types have been aggregated, so that the total value is an approximation that reflects the limitation of this approach. Assets under construction are not included. On account of the different valuation methods that do not always represent market value, this has not been adjusted for inflation.

In 2022–23 refreshed guidance was issued on the reporting of value across the estate. The guidance highlighted that only the value of freeholds should be captured. Leaseholds are to be excluded (except where an asset is a virtual freehold and has been acquired through an upfront capital payment and where only a minimal peppercorn rent, ground rent or service charge is paid). This guidance enables a more representative measure of value from an efficiency perspective. Prior to 2022–23, long lease assets, where these exist, have had their values included in the value of the portfolio.

Floor Area Measurement

Floor area measurements are presented according to the portfolio they belong to, outlined below:

• Office and Jobcentre portfolios: Measurements are in square metres (m²), Net Internal Area (NIA).
• Defence portfolio: in m², Gross External Area (GEA).
• Schools portfolio: in m², Condition Data Collection Gross Internal Floor Area (CDC GIFA). CDC GIFA is the area of a building, measured from Ordnance Survey (OS) information, using the external face of the perimeter walls at each floor level, which includes areas such as those occupied by internal walls and partitions. The GIFA calculation is taken from Ordnance Survey (OS)-based information and consequently a +/− 10% tolerance is allowed, given the limitations of site measurement and the base information from which measurement is taken.
• All other portfolios: in m², Gross Internal Area (GIA).

The Office and Jobcentre portfolios capture floor area in NIA, as this was deemed to be the most common basis of measurement for property of this nature that allows for an accurate calculation of costs per usable m² of premises. For other portfolios, GIA was deemed to be the most commonly used basis of measurement. The defence estate floor area is collected by the MOD on a property-level basis (rather than individual building level), so GEA was a more appropriate measure.

Where measurements were provided within the portfolios in other measurement types – for example, if GIA was provided for an office – they were converted to the relevant measurement using the Employment Density Guide.^{[footnote 11]} Data conversions are approximate (as precise factors do not exist).

The following factors have been applied:

• from GIA using a 75% ratio to calculate NIA
• from GEA reducing figures by 5% to calculate GIA

In 2022-23, 1.9% of total floor area was converted using a conversion factor. Conversions took place within the following portfolios:

 Table 4: Floor Area Conversions 2023-24

Portfolio	% Floor Area Converted	% of Total Estate Floor Area
Cultural Assets	46%	0.5%
Infrastructure	15%	0.3%
Logistics and Storage	21%	0.1%
Offices	10%	0.2%
Overseas	13%	0.2%
Science	35%	0.3%
Remaining Estate	69%	0.5%

Floor space or land area associated with ancillary activities will usually be included within the main portfolio – for example, back of house workshops or offices associated with a museum are included within the Cultural Assets portfolio.

The new Government Property Data Standard^{[footnote 12]} recommends use of the International Property Measurement Standard (IPMS)^{[footnote 13]} when measuring floor space. All new surveys are expected to follow IPMS. Recording to the old standards (generally Com6 – NIA, GIA etc.) is still permitted; however, it is recommended to move to IPMS as soon as is practicable. In the meantime, adjustments have to be made for the aggregation of different types of measurement data.

Running Costs

This is the total external to government cost of the lease or freehold and is the sum of the following:

• Rent
• Rates
• Total Operational Costs:
  • Service charge
  • Soft FM
  • Hard FM
  • Security cost

Property across the estate held as freehold will not have an associated rent cost, whereas leasehold property will report a rental cost.

Disposal Proceeds

Disposals data is collected through the Efficiency and Disposal programme in the Office of Government Property. Disposal information for 2023–24 reflects gross capital receipts from the sale of land and property at the point where the sale is considered unconditional. An unconditional sale receipt is one received at the point of exchange of an unconditional contract, or at the date when all conditions in a conditional contract have been met – for example, the grant of planning permission. This method aligns with that used for the previous Disposals and Public Sector Land Programme that ran between 2015 and 2020.

A wider definition for recording receipts from disposals was used in 2020-21 and 2021-22 when the Disposals programme was not active. This wider definition permitted exits from leasehold properties, and as such the data on government disposals for those two years is not directly comparable with the disposals data collected since 2022-23. Previous years’ data is therefore presented in this report from 2022-23 only.

Impact of IFRS 16

The IFRS 16 accounting standard for leases has been adopted by departments since 1 April 2022.^{[footnote 14]}

Under this standard, leases are recognised as assets and a capital liability is introduced to offset that asset.

This report will support the State of the Estate report, which provides an assessment of the progress made in the year towards improving the efficiency of the government estate. This is more appropriately measured by annual cost. For the same reason, valuation estimates in this report exclude the leasehold estate (except where an asset is a virtual freehold and has been acquired through an upfront capital payment and where only a minimal peppercorn rent, ground rent or service charge is paid).

Therefore, the valuation and costs that are subject to IFRS 16 in annual financial accounts may be different to those in this report.

Cost Breakdown Estimates

For a limited number of organisations, the provided data included overall running costs but a detailed breakdown was incomplete or not available. Consequently, the cost breakdowns were estimated using the average proportional distribution of costs observed in returns with similar characteristics.

Specifically, this was done by grouping based on portfolio and tenure type and calculating the average proportion of the total running costs attributed to each sub-category of costs. These calculated breakdown proportions were subsequently applied to the total running costs of returns with unavailable breakdowns. In this application, it is assumed that portfolios of the same type and tenure are likely to exhibit similar cost breakdowns. For instance, leasehold offices are expected to have a substantial proportion of their total running costs attributed to rent, irrespective of the department. In cases where estate stratification resulted in groups too small for robust estimation, the calculated proportions were based solely on matching tenure type.

For incomplete portfolios, with only partial cost breakdowns provided, the same estimation strategy was applied for the missing data.

The estimated running cost breakdowns comprise only 0.07% of the estate’s total running costs. Organisations and portfolios for which estimates have been applied are presented below:

Table 5: Apportioned Costs 2023-24

Organisation	Portfolio Type
Ministry of Housing, Communities an Local Government Planning Inspectorate	Office
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Committee on Climate Change	Office
Department for Transport (DfT) Central	Science
Department for Transport (DfT) Central	Logistics and Storage
Department for Transport (DfT) Central	Offices
Department for Culture, Media and Sport – Sport England	Remaining Estate

Notes on Particular Portfolios

Defence

The defence estate is a mixed portfolio including offices, storage and technical facilities, residential, land and aspects from other portfolios in which the MoD lives, works, trains, operates and deploys military capability; many Defence establishments are of mixed use. The defence estate additionally has its own security considerations regarding the usage of the estate. In this report no detailed breakdown of the defence estate on a portfolio basis is made.

Schools

The Schools portfolio comprises state-funded educational establishments providing nursery, primary or secondary-phase education, and some further education establishments (but not privately owned and operated nursery schools that do not share their buildings with schools). The scope of this report includes data on the number and floor area of such state-funded settings in England. Department for Education (DfE) data does not include education settings in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, and these are therefore excluded from the scope of the School portfolio.

The DfE is not the custodian of the school estate and does not collect a full dataset on land ownership for all schools. The responsibility for the school estate sits with responsible bodies (RBs). The identity of the RB will depend on the type of school, but in the majority of cases will be the local authority, academy trust or governing body. These bodies usually have legal responsibility for the land and buildings, and also have responsibilities to the freeholder of the land. A significant portion of the school estate is situated on charitable (rather than public) land.

This report includes data on the number and floor area of all state-funded schools in England for which data was reported through the Condition Data Collection (CDC); this is a five-yearly programme, and data sourced from the CDC is updated at that frequency, with the most recent update in 2021 and based on information collected in the period 2017-19. Its coverage includes:

• infant, junior and middle-deemed-primary schools;
• secondary schools, middle-deemed-secondary schools, sixth-form centres and sixth-form colleges; and
• short-stay/pupil referral units,^{[footnote 15]} special schools and special colleges.

Other education settings, including privately owned and operated nursery schools that did not share their buildings with schools, are not included. Full information on the CDC programme scope can be found in the CDC1 Programme Guide.^{[footnote 16]}

Valuation data and premises costs are available for academies only.^{[footnote 17]} From this year, these figures are based on information reported in academy trusts’ annual accounts through the Trust Online Form on an academic year (September-August) basis, with information from prior years also reported on a like-for-like basis. Data published in previous versions of this report has been drawn from the Academies Consolidated Annual Report and Accounts, and so is not directly comparable. This has been done to more closely model the cash running costs for academy trusts.

Acquisition and disposal information is not reported for the school estate, as schools do not form part of the government estate and are therefore out of scope of OGP reporting pipelines.

Land

The Land portfolio does not include land associated with a building or buildings (and so cannot be developed). This approach to the way land is reported was adopted from 2021-22. In earlier reporting periods land assets associated with buildings, even where this land could not be developed, were captured under each portfolio as distinct land assets; from 2021-22 this kind of land, although still associated with each relevant portfolio, is not recorded as separate land assets. This change was introduced as part of continuous improvements, to improve consistency in land asset reporting. Land assets have been measured in ha.

Infrastructure and Overseas Portfolios

The Infrastructure and Overseas portfolios were introduced in the 2021-22 State of the Estate report.^{[footnote 18]} The Infrastructure portfolio was previously reported as part of the Land and Remaining Estate portfolios. The Overseas portfolio was not previously reported as part of any other portfolio. These changes represent continuous improvement in measuring the estate.

Making Comparisons between and within Portfolios

As the methodology of data collection and analysis varies between portfolios, inter-portfolio comparison is subject to these methodologies. When making comparisons across portfolios, the following should be noted:

• The number of built assets in one portfolio might represent the number of buildings, but in another the approach might be different: for example, a prison may comprise one building or multiple buildings, whereas defence establishments have enumerated individual buildings.
• Floor area measurement type is captured on different bases across portfolios, as detailed in the Floor Area Measurement section above.
• Freehold property assets are valued on different bases (DRC, EUV, MV, Other). To provide a high-level estimate of total value, estimates of different types may be aggregated. However, it should be noted that such totals are an approximation that reflects the limitation of this approach.

Year-on-year time series analysis of intra-portfolio change is consistent, except where indicated in the individual portfolio sections.

The data presented in this report covers the period 2020-21 to 2023–24.

2.4 Revisions Policy

This publication contains revised figures each year where organisations have made changes to their previously reported data.

The reasons for the changes are:

• Additional data: Where data is available, which was not available for previous publication, it is included.
• Corrections: If corrections are made to previous years’ data where these are subsequently found to be incorrect, this is included.

For the most up-to-date data, users should therefore refer to the latest publication.

Portfolio Reports

3.1 Courts and Tribunals Portfolio

His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), and is responsible for the administration of criminal, civil and family courts and tribunals in England and Wales. HMCTS is also responsible for non-devolved tribunals in Scotland and works with an independent judiciary to provide a fair, efficient and effective justice system.

Figure 4: Courts and Tribunals Portfolio Summary

((Image of Figure 4))

• New Acquisitions - 6
• Surplus Floor Area (m²) - 3.4k, 5.8k (22-23) down 40.6%
• Total Running Costs - £389.6m, £389.6m (22-23) no change

Table 6: Courts and Tribunals Portfolio Summary

Appendix D contains notes relevant to this data table

Symbols used within this table: (z) = Not Applicable, (x) = Not available

Value	Sub Value	Unit	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	Change 2022–23 – 2023–24 (note 9)
Built Assets		Number	366	360	373	3.6%
Total Floor Area (note 1)		m2	1.7m	1.8m	1.8m	1.5%
	Freehold	m2	1.2m	1.2m	1.2m	1.3%
	Leasehold	m2	429.7k	461.4k	465.0k	0.8%
	PFI	m2	79.6k	79.6k	84.7k	6.5%
	Other	m2	53.4k	57.8k	60.5k	4.8%
Vacant Floor Area		m2	0.0k	0.0k	0.0k	-
Surplus Floor Area (note 2)		m2	5.8k	5.8k	3.4k	-40.6%
Freehold Value (note 3)		£	3.4bn	3.4bn	3.5bn	3.0%
Total Running Costs (note 4)		£	464.5m	389.6m	389.6m	0.0%
	Annual Rent for Leaseholds (note 4)	£	105.2m	100.5m	96.4m	-4.1%
	Annual Rates	£	(x)	63.0m	69.0m	9.5%
	Security Costs	£	(x)	64.1m	70.7m	10.3%
	Soft FM	£	(x)	64.3m	64.8m	0.9%
	Hard FM (note 5)	£	(x)	74.6m	61.0m	-18.3%
	Other Costs	£	(x)	23.2m	27.9m	20.3%
Number of Buildings Requiring an EPC		Number	11	29	28	-3.4%
	Number of Buildings EPC A-C	Number	7	14	13	-7.1%
New Acquisitions (note 6)		Number	(x)	1	6	(z)
Number of Disposals (note 7)		Number	(x)	2	0	(z)
Disposal Proceeds (note 7)		£	(x)	2.8m	0.0k	(z)

The Courts and Tribunals portfolio, managed by His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), reported 373 properties in 2023–24, an increase of 3.6% compared with the previous year. This growth was driven by the opening of additional tribunal centres to meet rising demand for access to justice. The portfolio’s total floor area rose to 1.8 million m², reflecting a 1.5% increase, while surplus floor area fell 40.6% due to asset rationalisation. The portfolio made six new acquisitions.

In 2023–24, Judges’ Lodgings, previously categorised under the Remaining Estate portfolio, were moved within the Courts and Tribunal portfolio. This was an organisational transfer of these assets from the MOJ estate to the HMCTS. Overall, 20 assets were brought into the portfolio during 2023–24, which resulted in a net increase of 13 assets, as 7 assets left the portfolio.

Total running costs remained stable at £389.6 million, with increases in security costs (+10.3%) offset by a -18.3% reduction in hard FM costs.

3.2 Cultural Assets Portfolio

Heritage and cultural assets were occupied and cared for by 25 arm’s-length bodies (ALBs) in 20223-24. The work of these organisations varies in scale, from running museums based on one site comprising a heritage asset like the Museum of the Home to larger-scale and multi-site institutions such as the Science Museums Group, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Tate.

Figure 5: Cultural Assets Portfolio Summary

((Image of Figure 5))

• Floor Area - 1.7m m², 1.6m m² (22‑23), up 2.5%
• Freehold Value - £6.2bn, £5.9bn (22-23), up 6.2%
• Running Costs - £6.2bn, £5.9bn (22-23), up 6.2%

Table 7: Cultural Assets Portfolio Summary

Appendix D contains notes relevant to this data table

Symbols used within this table: (z) = Not Applicable, (x) = Not available

Value	Sub Value	Unit	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	Change 2022–23 – 2023–24
# Built Assets		Number	297	286	285	-0.3%
Total Floor Area (note 1)		m2	1.6m	1.6m	1.7m	2.5%
	Freehold	m2	1.4m	1.5m	1.5m	2.8%
	Leasehold	m2	178.8k	113.6k	108.4k	-4.6%
	PFI	m2	0.0k	0.0k	0.0k	-
	Other	m2	18.8k	17.2k	21.1k	22.4%
Vacant Floor Area		m2	0.0k	0.0k	63.1k	-
Surplus Floor Area (note 2)		m2	0.0k	0.0k	53.8k	-
Freehold Value (note 3)		£	5.7bn	5.9bn	6.2bn	6.2%
Total Running Costs (note 4)		£	132.4m	160.0m	167.4m	4.6%
	Annual Rent for Leaseholds (note 4)	£	4.1m	2.7m	2.8m	4.6%
	Annual Rates	£	(x)	17.0m	16.2m	-5.0%
	Security Costs	£	(x)	42.0m	43.3m	3.0%
	Soft FM	£	(x)	50.5m	54.8m	8.6%
	Hard FM (note 5)	£	(x)	35.7m	40.4m	13.1%
	Other Costs	£	(x)	12.1m	9.9m	-17.8%
Number of Buildings Requiring an EPC		Number	52	44	47	6.8%
	Number of Buildings EPC A-C	Number	11	13	24	84.6%
New Acquisitions (note 6)		Number	(x)	3	1	(z)
Number of Disposals (note 7)		Number	(x)	0	0	(z)
Disposal Proceeds (note 7)		£	(x)	0	0	(z)

The Cultural Assets portfolio contained 285 built assets in 2023–24, a marginal decrease of 0.3%. The total floor area increased by 2.5% to 1.7 million m², driven by the acquisition of new assets such as the Victoria and Albert East. Running costs rose by 4.6%, reaching £167.4 million, due to increases in utility and security costs, with facilities like the Tate Modern seeing a rise in operational expenditure following the reopening of major exhibition spaces.

3.3 Defence Portfolio

Spread over approximately 1.4% of UK land mass, the Defence portfolio is one of the largest property portfolios in the UK and operates over 1,092 establishments worldwide, including airfields, barracks, naval bases, training areas, housing and accommodation.

Figure 6: UK Defence Portfolio Summary

• Built Assets - 93,377, 95,750 (22‑23), down 2.5%
• Land Assets - 6,851, 7,072 (22-23), down 3.1%
• Number of Buildings EPC A-C - 18,940, 0 (22-23)
• Running Costs - £3.3bn, £3.0bn (22-23), up 10.0%

Table 8: UK Defence Portfolio Summary

Appendix D contains notes relevant to this data table

Symbols used within this table: (z) = Not Applicable, (x) = Not available

Value	Sub Value	Unit	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	Change 2022–23 – 2023–24
Number of Assets		Number	104,369	102,822	100,228	-2.5%
	Built Assets	Number	97,512	95,750	93,377	-2.5%
	Land Assets	Number	6,857	7,072	6,851	-3.1%
Total Floor Area (note 1)		m2	35.7m	34.3m	31.3m	-8.7%
	Freehold	m2	25.3m	24.1m	24.1m	0.2%
	Leasehold	m2	4.0m	3.8m	3.8m	-0.9%
	PFI	m2	3.8m	3.7m	3.4m	-8.2%
	Other	m2	2.6m	2.7m	0.0k	(z)
Vacant Floor Area		m2	0.0k	0.0k	0.0k	-
Surplus Floor Area (note 2)		m2	0.0k	0.0k	0.0k	-
Land Area		ha	343.6k	343.5k	342.0k	-0.4%
Surplus Land Area (note 2)		ha	0.0k	0.0k	0.0k	-
Freehold Value (note 3)		£	32.1bn	33.1bn	33.4bn	0.9%
Total Running Costs (note 4)		£	2.9bn	3.0bn	3.3bn	10.0%
	Annual Rent for Leaseholds (note 4)	£	157.7m	147.6m	150.1m	1.7%
	Annual Rates	£	(x)	153.5m	163.8m	6.7%
	Security Costs	£	(x)	131.7m	122.2m	-7.2%
	Soft FM	£	(x)	245.7m	265.0m	7.9%
	Hard FM (note 5)	£	(x)	1.1bn	1.3bn	18.3%
	Other Costs	£	(x)	1.2bn	1.3bn	6.1%
Number of Buildings Requiring an EPC		Number	0	0	0	-
	Number of Buildings EPC A-C	Number	0	0	18,940	(z)
New Acquisitions (note 6)		Number	(x)	24	4	(z)
Number of Disposals (note 7)		Number	(x)	43	51	(z)
Disposal Proceeds (note 7)		£	(x)	61.2m	221.8m	(z)

The number of assets across the defence estate has decreased in 2023–24. Built assets decreased by 2.5% and land assets by 3.1%. This is as a result of the DEO Portfolio, which is the single biggest estates change programme within Defence, investing £5.1 billion in modern, greener and more sustainable infrastructure.

Running costs of the defence estate increased by 10.0% in 2023–24. This relates to the Future Defence Infrastructure Services core accommodation contract. The increase reflects a mix of increased investment in Service Family Accommodation, inflationary increases and efficiency measures. The estimated value of the estate saw a small increase of 0.9% to £33.4 billion.

In 2023–24, the MOD performed a substantial data reconciliation exercise against its property data which has resulted in improvements to floor areas. Additionally, this year, the MOD has captured the EPC details of almost 19,000 buildings on its Infrastructure Management System. The vast majority of MOD built assets are exempt from EPCs as a result of their age of construction: EPC data relates to new buildings and leases.

In 2023–24, there were 51 disposals made by the MOD that raised £221.8 million and accounted for approximately 362 ha. These disposals will help fund defence estate transformation and modernisation.

3.4 Health Portfolio

Health services are devolved among the four nations of the UK. Data for Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland, NHS Scotland and NHS Wales (GIG Cymru) are not included in this report.

The Health portfolio for England is presented here under three distinct categories: community health services (primary care), NHS Trust hospitals (secondary care), and residential and care facilities. Separate administrative buildings are included within the Office portfolio, and the laboratories science estate in the Science portfolio.

Primary Care and Community Health

The Primary Care and Community Health portfolio is managed by three organisations: NHS Property Services (NHS PS), Community Health Partnerships (CHP), and NHS Blood and Transplant. They support primary care delivery through managing blood donor centres, health clinics and community hospitals.

NHS Trust Hospitals (Secondary Care)

The Secondary Care portfolio is made up of NHS Trust hospitals, general acute hospitals, specialist and mixed-service hospitals and community hospitals (with inpatient beds). This portfolio also includes hospitals within the NHS PS estate previously reported under the Primary Care and Community portfolio.

Residential and Healthcare Facilities

This portfolio comprises a range of residential care facilities and health education services. It excludes laboratories and science uses, which are included in the Science portfolio, and administrative uses, which are included in the Office portfolio.

Figure 7: Health Portfolio Summary

((Image of Figure 7))

• Freehold Value - £66.4bn, £60.0bn (22-23), up 10.7%
• Running Costs - £14.3bn, £13.4bn (22-23), up 6.2%
• Built Assets - 7.4k, 7.3k (22-23), up 1.2%

Table 9: Health Portfolio Summary

Appendix D contains notes relevant to this data table

Symbols used within this table: (z) = Not Applicable, (x) = Not available

Value	Sub Value	Unit	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	Change 2022–23 – 2023–24 (note 9)
Built Assets		Number	7.3k	7.3k	7.4k	1.2%
Total Floor Area (note 1)		m2	29.2m	29.7m	30.0m	0.9%
	Freehold	m2	16.7m	16.9m	17.2m	1.7%
	Leasehold	m2	1.5m	1.7m	2.5m	49.7%
	PFI (note 10)	m2	8.0m	8.2m	8.2m	0.2%
	Other	m2	2.9m	2.9m	2.1m	-29.4%
Vacant Floor Area		m2	503.0k	513.3k	290.9k	-43.3%
Surplus Floor Area (note 2)		m2	527.2k	484.3k	480.7k	-0.7%
Freehold Value (note 3)		£	59.7bn	60.0bn	66.4bn	10.7%
Total Running Costs (note 4) (note 15)		£	12.7bn	13.4bn	14.3bn	6.2%
	Annual Rent for Leaseholds (note 4)	£	1.2bn	1.1bn	1.2bn	5.8%
	Annual Rates	£	(x)	520.9m	559.9m	7.5%
	Security Costs	£	(x)	20.3m	20.7m	1.7%
	Soft FM	£	(x)	5,627.1m	5,966.4m	6.0%
	Hard FM (note 5)	£	(x)	1,842.8m	2,028.3m	10.1%
	Other Costs	£	(x)	4.3bn	4.5bn	4.8%
Number of Buildings Requiring an EPC		Number	2,033	2,088	1,803	-13.6%
	Number of Buildings EPC A-C	Number	1,108	1,181	1,027	-13.0%
New Acquisitions (note 6)		Number	(x)	9	6	(z)
Number of Disposals (note 7)		Number	(x)	43	30	(z)
Disposal Proceeds (note 7)		£	(x)	125.6m	35.1m	(z)

The Health portfolio, comprising primary, secondary and community healthcare facilities, grew by 1.2%, reaching 7,400 properties in 2023–24. NHS England contributed to this increase when trusts increased their estate to meet demand – for example, through the renting of office space for administration activities and through moves to make space for more clinical or operational activity. Total floor area increased by 0.9% to 30.0 million m², reflecting the addition of new hospitals and community clinics.

Running costs rose by 6.2% to £14.3 billion, with inflationary pressures driving up maintenance and operational costs. NHS England accounted for 93% of running costs.^{[footnote 19]} Cost pressures have intensified due to numerous service contracts being linked to relevant inflation indices in hard and soft FM services.

The portfolio recorded 30 disposals, raising £35.1 million, primarily through NHS PS. These included older facilities and redundant properties that no longer aligned with the NHS’s strategic objectives. The funds received from the sales of surplus healthcare facilities will help fund the provision of modern facilities. Utilisation remained high, with surplus space declining to 0.7%, reflecting the critical demand for healthcare services.

3.5 Infrastructure Portfolio

The Infrastructure Portfolio reflects assets within the estate which are designed to help facilitate other activity, whether inside or outside government. Infrastructure sectors include transport, energy, digital (telecommunications), waste, wastewater and sewage, and flood defences. Responsibility for this portfolio is largely devolved, and the summary provided here represents only central government infrastructure.^{[footnote 20]}

Figure 8: Infrastructure Portfolio Summary

((Image of Figure 8))

• Built Assets - 777
• Floor Area (m²) - 3.0m
• Running Costs - £276.5m
• Freehold Value - £480.8m
• Disposal Proceeds - £43.2m

Table 10: Infrastructure Portfolio Summary

Appendix D contains notes relevant to this data table

Symbols used within this table: (z) = Not Applicable, (x) = Not available

Value	Sub Value	Unit	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	Change 2022–23 – 2023–24 (note 9)
Built Assets		Number	1,826	729	777	(z)
Total Floor Area (note 1)		m2	317.3k	460.8k	3.0m	(z)
	Freehold	m2	298.5k	421.3k	2.8m	(z)
	Leasehold	m2	18.8k	39.5k	145.2k	(z)
	PFI	m2	0	0	0	(z)
	Other	m2	(z)	14	14	(z)
Vacant Floor Area		m2	37.0k	37.1k	37.1k	(z)
Surplus Floor Area (note 2)		m2	(x)	(x)	(x)	(x)
Freehold Value (note 3)		£	397.0m	451.6m	480.8m	(z)
Total Running Costs (note 4)		£	37.5m	33.5m	276.5m	(z)
	Annual Rent for Leaseholds (note 4)	£	17.3m	-4,031.2k	5.2m	(z)
	Annual Rates	£	(x)	32.8m	35.3m	(z)
	Security Costs	£	(x)	3.5k	40.3m	(z)
	Soft FM	£	(x)	2.4m	121.0m	(z)
	Hard FM (note 5)	£	(x)	1.3m	63.9m	(z)
	Other Costs	£	(x)	1.0m	10.8m	(z)
Number of Buildings Requiring an EPC		Number	1,112	4	4	(z)
	Number of Buildings EPC A-C	Number	379	2	1	(z)
New Acquisitions (note 6)		Number	(x)	91	26	(z)
Number of Disposals (note 7)		Number	(x)	46	5	(z)
Disposal Proceeds (note 7)		£	(x)	23.3m	43.2m	(z)

The Infrastructure portfolio recorded 777 built assets, with a total floor area of 3.0 million m². Changes in the portfolio are largely attributed to updated reporting by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, which accounts for 84% of the total area. These facilities include specialised nuclear sites that are essential to national energy infrastructure.

Running costs were reported at £276.5 million, driven by increased maintenance expenditures and higher energy costs for critical facilities. Significant investments were made in hard FM services, ensuring that key sites remain operational and meet regulatory standards.

The portfolio recorded five disposals, generating £43.2 million. Notable transactions included railway-adjacent land sold by Network Rail, reflecting its strategy to streamline its estate and prioritise operational assets.

3.6 Jobcentre Portfolio

The DWP is the government’s largest public service department, in terms of client numbers. Besides managing the state pension service, it also manages Universal Credit across England, Scotland and Wales. It has a geographically dispersed and extensive portfolio of Jobcentres, with over 800 venues in easily accessible locations, providing frontline services to over five million people.

Figure 9: Jobcentre Portfolio Summary

((Image of Figure 9))

• Built Assets - 761, 825 (22‑23), down 7.8%
• Floor Area - 930.4k m², 987.6k m² (22‑23), down 5.8%
• Running Costs - £458.4m, £522.0m (22-23), down 12.2%

Table 11: Jobcentre Portfolio Summary

Appendix D contains notes relevant to this data table

Symbols used within this table: (z) = Not Applicable, (x) = Not available

Value	Sub Value	Unit	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	Change 2022–23 – 2023–24
Built Assets		Number	831	825	761	-7.8%
Total Floor Area (note 1)		m2	1.0m	987.6k	930.4k	-5.8%
	Freehold	m2	0.0k	0.0k	0.0k	-
	Leasehold	m2	1.0m	987.6k	930.4k	-5.8%
	PFI	m2	0.0k	0.0k	0.0k	-
	Other	m2	0.0k	0.0k	0.0k	-
Vacant Floor Area		m2	0.0k	0.0k	0.0k	-
Surplus Floor Area (note 2)		m2	0.0k	0.0	0.0	-
Freehold Value (note 3)		£	0.0	0.0	0.0	-
Total Running Costs (note 4)		£	504.6m	522.0m	458.4m	-12.2%
	Annual Rent for Leaseholds (note 4)	£	164.1m	166.4m	165.9m	-0.3%
	Annual Rates	£	(x)	52.9m	45.0m	-15.0%
	Security Costs	£	(x)	101.1m	95.5m	-5.5%
	Soft FM	£	(x)	47.3m	33.5m	-29.2%
	Hard FM (note 5)	£	(x)	38.7m	30.1m	-22.3%
	Other Costs	£	(x)	115.7m	88.4m	-23.6%
Number of Buildings Requiring an EPC		Number	758	763	734	-3.8%
	Number of Buildings EPC A-C	Number	335	343	292	-14.9%
New Acquisitions (note 6)		Number	(x)	11	2	(z)
Number of Disposals (note 7)		Number	(x)	0.0	0.0	(z)
Disposal Proceeds (note 7)		£	(x)	0.0	0.0	(z)

Sites within the Jobcentre portfolio are of a mixed-use nature. The majority of Jobcentres and assessment centres are used primarily to provide these services (761 in 2023–24). In 2023‑24, 54 additional sites primarily classified under the Office portfolio also provided Jobcentre and medical assessment centre services, contributing to a total of 815 sites offering frontline services.

A decrease in built assets and floor areas is observed in the Jobcentre portfolio in 2023–24; this relates to releasing the Rapid Estate Expansion Programme (REEP) assets which were onboarded by the DWP at the outset of the pandemic. Reductions in floor area (5.8%) and running costs (12.2%) were observed in correspondence with the release of these assets.

Of the 761 Jobcentre assets, 734 require an EPC, and 292 of these assets are rated A-C. The reduction observed in the course of the year relates to the release of REEP assets.

3.7 Land Portfolio

The government estate includes land that is not directly associated with buildings and is used for a wide variety of different purposes, from coach and lorry parking to forests and lakes. This is in addition to the defence land which is reported under the Defence portfolio.

Figure 10: Land Portfolio Summary

((Image of Figure 10))

• Land Assets - 15,538, 15,991 (22‑23), down 2.8%
• Land Area - 286.4k ha, 285.4k ha (22‑23), up 0.4%
• Running Costs - £28.7m, £27.1m (22-23), up 6.0%
• Freehold Value - £4.8bn, £4.8bn (22-23), up 0.8%
• Disposal Proceeds - £104.1m

Table 12: Land Portfolio Summary

Appendix D contains notes relevant to this data table

Symbols used within this table: (z) = Not Applicable, (x) = Not available

Value	Sub Value	Unit	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	Change 2022–23 – 2023–24 (note 9)
Land Assets		Number	15,770	15,991	15,538	-2.8%
Land Area		ha	282.8k	285.4k	286.4k	0.4%
Surplus Land Area (note 2)		ha	719	261	387	48.3%
Freehold Value (note 3)		£	4.6bn	4.8bn	4.8bn	0.8%
Total Running Costs (note 4)		£	8.1m	27.1m	28.7m	6.0%
	Annual Rent for Leaseholds (note 4)	£	3.5m	4.1m	4.1m	-0.1%
	Annual Rates	£	(x)	1.8m	1.5m	-17.5%
	Security Costs	£	(x)	3.8m	2.8m	-26.1%
	Soft FM	£	(x)	2.0m	2.9m	48.5%
	Hard FM (note 5)	£	(x)	14.7m	16.7m	13.9%
	Other Costs	£	(x)	708.9k	638.6k	-9.9%
New Acquisitions (note 6)		Number	(x)	23	335	(z)
Number of Disposals (note 7)		Number	(x)	168	98	(z)
Disposal Proceeds (note 7)		£	(x)	187.9m	104.1m	(z)

The Land portfolio demonstrated significant activity in 2023–24, with 98 disposals raising £104.1 million. Homes England (HE) was the most prominent contributor, disposing of 38 sites totalling approximately 86 hectares. These disposals were aimed at unlocking land for housing development and urban regeneration. Other key contributors included the FC and the MOD, both of which streamlined their holdings as part of their ongoing estate management strategies.

The portfolio saw a marked increase in acquisitions, with 335 new assets added in 2023–24. This expansion was largely driven by HE’s acquisition of development-ready sites to support the government’s housing and growth agenda. The total land area grew by 0.4%, reaching 286.4k hectares, while surplus land area increased by 48.3% to 387 hectares, indicating further progress in identifying and preparing land for disposal.

Running costs increased by 6.0%, totalling £28.7 million, driven by a 48.5% rise in soft FM costs and a 13.9% rise in hard FM costs. These increases were partially offset by a 26.1% reduction in security costs.

3.8 Logistics and Storage Portfolio

Logistics and storage uses encompass a variety of asset classes, currently owned by multiple government departments. This portfolio does not include Defence or cultural storage assets.

Figure 11: Logistics and Storage Portfolio Summary

((Image of Figure 11))

• Freehold Value - £93.2m, £90.9m (22-23), up 2.6%
• Floor Area (m²) - 695.3k, 649.8k (22-23), up 7.0%
• Running Costs - £70.4m, £61.5m (22-23), up 14.6%
• Vacant Space (m²) - 42.1k, 3.5k (22-23), up 1,105.3%

Table 13: Logistics and Storage Portfolio Summary

Appendix D contains notes relevant to this data table

Symbols used within this table: (z) = Not Applicable, (x) = Not available

Value	Sub Value	Unit	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	Change 2022–23 – 2023–24 (note 9)
Built Assets		Number	694	585	596	1.9%
Total Floor Area (note 1)		m2	701.2k	649.8k	695.3k	7.0%
	Freehold	m2	261.5k	132.5k	133.0k	0.4%
	Leasehold	m2	438.3k	514.4k	559.3k	8.7%
	PFI	m2	(x)	(x)	(x)	(x)
	Other	m2	1.4k	2.9k	2.9k	-1.3%
Vacant Floor Area		m2	2.6k	3.5k	42.1k	1,105.3%
Surplus Floor Area (note 2)		m2	6.3k	3.3k	40.9k	1,135.6%
Freehold Value (note 3)		£	81.0m	90.9m	93.2m	2.6%
Total Running Costs (note 4)		£	62.6m	61.5m	70.4m	14.6%
	Annual Rent for Leaseholds (note 4)	£	38.9m	23.9m	28.0m	16.9%
	Annual Rates	£	(x)	9.0m	9.7m	8.3%
	Security Costs	£	(x)	2.4m	3.3m	38.1%
	Soft FM	£	(x)	6.0m	12.8m	112.1%
	Hard FM (note 5)	£	(x)	8.5m	8.4m	-1.0%
	Other Costs	£	(x)	11.7m	8.3m	-29.1%
Number of Buildings Requiring an EPC		Number	97	67	87	29.9%
	Number of Buildings EPC A-C	Number	34	31	28	-9.7%
New Acquisitions (note 6)		Number	(x)	8	11	(z)
Number of Disposals (note 7)		Number	(x)	0	1	(z)
Disposal Proceeds (note 7)		£	(x)	0.0	7.1m	(z)

The Logistics and Storage portfolio experienced modest growth in 2023–24, with the number of built assets increasing by 1.9% to 596. Total floor area rose by 7.0% to 695,300 m², largely driven by leasehold expansions. Departments such as the DfT and National Highways contributed to this growth, acquiring sites to support operational needs, including motorway service compounds and vehicle depots.

Surplus and vacant floor area saw large increases to 40,900 m² and 42,100 m², this was driven by the Victoria and Albert Museum where objects were decanted to another location from Blythe House, with the building then reverting to DCMS ownership for sale.

Running costs increased by 14.6%, reaching £70.4 million, with significant rises in soft FM costs (an increase of 112.1%) and security costs (increasing by 38.1%). These increases were primarily attributed to investments in maintaining and securing critical storage facilities. New acquisitions totalled 11 assets, including sites acquired by the Home Office and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCGA) to enhance the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme. Only one asset was disposed of during the year, generating £7.1 million.

3.9 Office Portfolio

The Government Property Agency (GPA) is the public sector property holding company responsible for delivering the government’s property agenda across much of its Office portfolio. It represents the best covenant in the UK – His Majesty’s Government – and manages a large and fast-growing estate.

An office includes front of house, HQ, service-supporting and serviced offices and IT/data/call centres. It does not include public-facing office accommodation that is ancillary to the primary purpose of that building (e.g. a school, prison, Jobcentres etc.).

Figure 12: Office Portfolio Summary

• Built Assets - 1,152, 1,216 (22‑23), down 5.3%
• Floor Area - 2.7m m², 2.9 m² (22‑23), down 7.8%
• Running Costs - £1.5bn, £1.5bn (22-23), up 0.5%
• Leasehold Rents - £556.7m, £575.6m (22-23), down 3.3%

Table 14: Office Portfolio Summary

Appendix D contains notes relevant to this data table

Symbols used within this table: (z) = Not Applicable, (x) = Not available

Value	Sub Value	Unit	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	Change 2022–23 – 2023–24
Built Assets		Number	1,259	1,216	1,152	-5.3%
Total Floor Area (note 1)		m2	3.0m	2.9m	2.7m	-7.8%
	Freehold	m2	633.8k	621.2k	580.4k	-6.6%
	Leasehold	m2	2.1m	2.1m	1.9m	-8.7%
	PFI	m2	262.2k	247.4k	236.8k	-4.3%
	Other	m2	10.1k	7.8k	9.0k	15.6%
Vacant Floor Area		m2	32.8k	66.4k	99.7k	50.1%
Surplus Floor Area (note 2)		m2	259.0k	126.2k	106.7k	-15.5%
Freehold Value (note 3)		£	2.2bn	1.7bn	1.7bn	2.6%
Total Running Costs (note 4)		£	1.6bn	1.5bn	1.5bn	0.5%
	Annual Rent for Leaseholds (note 4)	£	681.0m	576.0m	556.7m	-3.4%
	Annual Rates	£	(x)	220.1m	238.4m	8.3%
	Security Costs	£	(x)	60.2m	68.1m	13.2%
	Soft FM	£	(x)	176.4m	180.1m	2.1%
	Hard FM (note 5)	£	(x)	154.2m	157.8m	2.4%
	Other Costs	£	(x)	314.5m	308.1m	-2.1%
Number of Buildings Requiring an EPC		Number	823	840	840	0.00%
	Number of Buildings EPC A-C	Number	405	442	478	8.1%
New Acquisitions (note 6)		Number	(x)	25	30	(z)
Number of Disposals (note 7)		Number	(x)	6.0	5.0	(z)
Disposal Proceeds (note 7)		£	(x)	12.8m	8.9m	(z)

The Office portfolio continued its rationalisation efforts in 2023–24, aligning with the government’s strategy to consolidate and optimise its office estate. The number of built assets reduced by 5.3% to 1,152, and total floor area decreased by 7.8% to 2.7 million m². The GPA played a central role, disposing of five office assets and generating £8.9 million in proceeds. Surplus floor area also decreased by 15.5%, whilst vacant space increased by 50.1% a result of onboarding of properties with vacant space, and also vacant space of properties undergoing refurbishment.

Running costs remained stable at £1.5 billion, although individual cost components saw notable increases. Annual rates rose by 8.3% due to updated valuations, while security costs increased by 13.2%, reflecting inflationary pressures and enhanced security measures. The portfolio added 30 new assets, with acquisitions focused on supporting the delivery of public services.

3.10 Overseas Portfolio

The Overseas Estate portfolio comprises civilian properties held by His Majesty’s Government overseas. The properties in this portfolio are defined as any occupied asset located outside the UK coastline, except Defence assets, which are included in the Defence portfolio.

Figure 13: Overseas Portfolio Summary

• Built Assets - 6,489, 6,352 (22‑23), up 2.2%
• Floor Area (m²) - 1.9m, 1.8m (22-23), up 7.0%
• Freehold Value - £2.9bn, £2.6bn (22-23), up 11.2%
• Disposal Proceeds - £12.3m

Table 15: Overseas Portfolio Summary

Appendix D contains notes relevant to this data table

Symbols used within this table: (z) = Not Applicable, (x) = Not available

Value	Sub Value	Unit	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	Change 2022–23 – 2023–24 (note 9)
Built Assets		Number	6,597	6,352	6,489	2.2%
Total Floor Area (note 1)		m2	1.6m	1.8m	1.9m	7.0%
	Freehold	m2	501.3k	538.7k	544.2k	1.0%
	Leasehold	m2	1.0m	1.2m	1.3m	9.9%
	PFI	m2	7.9k	7.9k	7.9k	0.0%
	Other	m2	32.9k	42.7k	44.1k	3.2%
Vacant Floor Area		m2	(x)	0.0	1,942.0	-
Surplus Floor Area (note 2)		m2	(x)	0.0	0.0	-
Freehold Value (note 3)		£	2.5bn	2.6bn	2.9bn	11.2%
Total Running Costs (note 4)		£	383.8m	385.2m	397.0m	3.1%
	Annual Rent for Leaseholds (note 4)	£	166.7m	154.8m	145.2m	-6.2%
	Annual Rates	£	(x)	18.4k	2.2m	(z)
	Security Costs	£	(x)	0.0k	72.9m	(z)
	Soft FM	£	(x)	531.4k	61.3m	(z)
	Hard FM (note 5)	£	(x)	229.5m	115.3m	(z)
	Other Costs	£	(x)	328.0k	69.1k	(z)
Number of Buildings Requiring an EPC		Number	(x)	0.0	0.0	-
	Number of Buildings EPC A-C	Number	(x)	0.0	0.0	-
New Acquisitions (note 6)		Number	(x)	0	11	(z)
Number of Disposals (note 7)		Number	(x)	11	14	(z)
Disposal Proceeds (note 7)		£	(x)	695.5m	12.3m	(z)

The Overseas portfolio experienced moderate growth in 2023–24. The number of built assets increased by 2.2% to 6,489, while total floor area expanded by 7.0% to 1.9 million m². Leasehold space saw the most growth (9.9%), driven by expansions in diplomatic missions and trade offices managed by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). Freehold space also increased slightly by 1.0%.

Running costs across the portfolio were £397.0m in 2023-24. Movements in the cost breakdown are explained by reporting improvements made by the FCDO, whose overseas estate accounts for 91% of running costs. From 2023–24, the FCDO has captured cost information in more granular detail, whereas previously this was reported as a lump sum under hard FM.

The Overseas portfolio recorded 14 disposals in 2023–24, raising £12.3 million.

3.11 Prison Portfolio

In England and Wales, the Prison portfolio is managed by the MOJ Property Directorate on behalf of His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). Within this portfolio, there are over 100 prisons.

Figure 14: Prison Portfolio Summary

• Built Assets - 391, 383 (22‑23), up 2.1%
• Floor Area (m²) - 4.1m, 4.0m (22-23), up 0.6%
• Freehold Value - £8.4bn, £7.8bn (22-23), up 6.8%
• Running Costs - £1.1bn, £1.1bn (22-23), up 5.2%
• Disposal Proceeds - £7.2m

Table 16: Prison Portfolio Summary

Appendix D contains notes relevant to this data table

Symbols used within this table: (z) = Not Applicable, (x) = Not available

Value	Sub Value	Unit	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	Change 2022–23 – 2023–24 (note 9)
Built Assets		Number	393	383	391	2.1%
Total Floor Area (note 1)		m2	4.0m	4.0m	4.1m	0.6%
	Freehold	m2	4.0m	4.0m	4.0m	0.4%
	Leasehold	m2	33.7k	33.8k	39.4k	16.6%
	PFI	m2	(x)	0.0	0.0
	Other	m2	27.0	27.0	692.0	(z)
Vacant Floor Area		m2	(x)	0.0k	0.0k
Surplus Floor Area (note 2)		m2	17.8k	28.0k	28.0k	0.0%
Freehold Value (note 3)		£	7.9bn	7.8bn	8.4bn	6.8%
Total Running Costs (note 4)		£	1.1bn	1.1bn	1.1bn	5.2%
	Annual Rent for Leaseholds (note 4)	£	1.7m	1.5m	1.9m	30.3%
	Annual Rates	£	(x)	43.9m	48.6m	10.7%
	Security Costs	£	(x)	10.7m	11.0m	2.9%
	Soft FM	£	(x)	36.2m	38.0m	4.9%
	Hard FM (note 5)	£	(x)	200.3m	202.4m	1.0%
	Other Costs	£	(x)	797.0m	844.4m	5.9%
Number of Buildings Requiring an EPC		Number	2	28	31	10.70%
	Number of Buildings EPC A-C	Number	2	1	2	100.0%
New Acquisitions (note 6)		Number	(x)	0	0	(z)
Number of Disposals (note 7)		Number	(x)	5	3	(z)
Disposal Proceeds (note 7)		£	(x)	973.8k	7.2m	(z)

The size of the Prison portfolio remained steady, with an increase of eight assets (2.1%). There was a 5.2% increase in running costs. This was driven by the Other Costs category, which saw a 5.9% increase. Alongside inflation, increases relate to a continuing pattern of investment across the prison estate, with a focus on investing to improve conditions and performance through local initiatives linked to agreed spending priorities – for example, on safety, decency and security. Additionally, rent for leaseholds saw an increase of 30.3% due to new capitalised leases in 2023–24 and a 4.9% increase in Soft FM costs was observed due to the additional costs of urgent RAAC (Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) assessments across the portfolio.

Following a valuation reflecting local land evidence, the total estimated value of the freehold increased by 6.8%.

Floor area variance was minimal at 0.6%, with the main increase being in the Leasehold and Freehold categories following the re-categorisation of a number of HMPPS HQ sites from the Offices portfolio to the Prison portfolio.

3.12 Probation Portfolio

The Probation portfolio is managed by the MOJ Property Directorate on behalf of the Probation Service, a statutory criminal justice service that supervises offenders released into the community, while protecting the public. The Probation Service is based in local communities across England and Wales and the portfolio comprises contact centres and approved premises, providing operational space and a working base for probation staff.

Figure 15: Probation Portfolio Summary

• Built Assets - 494, 500 (22‑23), down 1.2%
• Floor Area (m2) - 323.4k, 317.8k (22-23), up 1.7%
• Running Costs - £127.8m, £131.6m (22-23), down 2.9%
• Vacant Space (m2) - 4.7k, 6.7k (22-23), down 30.3%
• Disposal Proceeds - £3.2m

Table 17: Probation Portfolio Summary

Appendix D contains notes relevant to this data table

Symbols used within this table: (z) = Not Applicable, (x) = Not available

Value	Sub Value	Unit	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	Change 2022–23 – 2023–24 (note 9)
Built Assets		Number	522	500	494	-1.2%
Total Floor Area (note 1)		m2	345.3k	317.8k	323.4k	1.7%
	Freehold	m2	128.6k	124.4k	121.5k	-2.3%
	Leasehold	m2	210.3k	187.7k	197.3k	5.1%
	PFI	m2	(x)	0.0k	(x)
	Other	m2	6.4k	5.7k	4.5k	-21.3%
Vacant Floor Area		m2	(x)	6.7k	4.7k	-30.3%
Surplus Floor Area (note 2)		m2	(x)	0.0	0.0
Freehold Value (note 3)		£	160.0m	171.0m	173.4m	1.4%
Total Running Costs (note 4)		£	113.3m	131.6m	127.8m	-2.9%
	Annual Rent for Leaseholds (note 4)	£	24.4m	24.7m	22.3m	-10.0%
	Annual Rates	£	(x)	10.1m	10.7m	6.3%
	Security Costs	£	(x)	1.4m	1.7m	17.8%
	Soft FM	£	(x)	10.2m	11.2m	9.8%
	Hard FM (note 5)	£	(x)	84.6m	80.2m	-5.2%
	Other Costs	£	(x)	548.3k	1.7m	213.6%
Number of Buildings Requiring an EPC		Number	23	191	209	9.4%
	Number of Buildings EPC A-C	Number	12	86	100	16.3%
New Acquisitions (note 6)		Number	(x)	7	9	(z)
Number of Disposals (note 7)		Number	(x)	1	4	(z)
Disposal Proceeds (note 7)		£	(x)	300.0k	3.2m	(z)

The overall size of the Probation portfolio remained stable, with a 1.2% decrease in built assets and a 1.7% increase in floor area. Efforts were made to align more closely with the Government Property Strategy by replacing older freehold properties with newer, more efficient and sustainable leasehold properties. This resulted in a 2.3% reduction in freehold floor area and a 5.1% increase in leasehold floor area. Many former Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) sites that did not align with the new strategy were removed, and a 21.3% reduction in the ‘Other’ floor area (which represents 4% of the total portfolio floor area) was achieved through the consolidation of smaller spaces like rooms, part floors and single interview rooms in local authority sites.

Additionally, nine new acquisitions were made; these were deemed necessary to support the provision of present and future probation services in the local community.

Vacant floor area was reduced by 30.3% following removal of two built assets which required substantial investments to improve conditions.

Total property running costs decreased by 2.9% in 2023–24. However, due to new capitalised leases in 2023–24, there was some movement within categories. Annual rent for leaseholds saw a decrease of 10.0% and hard FM costs saw a decrease of 5.2%, but rates, security costs, soft FM and other costs all saw an increase due to the capitalised leases.

3.13 Schools Portfolio

The Schools portfolio comprises state-funded educational establishments providing nursery, primary or secondary-phase education, and some further education establishments (but not privately owned and operated nursery schools that do not share their buildings with schools). These include infant, junior and middle-deemed primary schools; secondary schools, middle-deemed secondary schools, sixth-form centres and sixth-form colleges; and short-stay/pupil referral units,^{[footnote 21]} special schools and special colleges. DfE data does not include education settings in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, and these are therefore excluded from the scope of the Schools portfolio.

The DfE provides funding for improvement of the condition of school buildings and surrounding grounds in England. However, the DfE is not the custodian of the school estate and does not collect a full dataset on land ownership for all schools. Responsibility for the school estate sits with responsible bodies (RBs). The identity of the RB will depend on the type of school, but in the majority of cases will be the local authority, academy trust or governing body. These bodies usually have legal responsibility for the land and buildings and also have responsibilities to the freeholder of the land. A significant portion of the school estate is located on charitable (rather than public) land.

Figure 16: Schools Portfolio Summary

• Schools’ Built Assets - 63,970
• Schools’ Floor Area (m²) - 78.7m
• Academy Freehold Value - £59.8bn
• Academy Premises Costs - £2.9bn

Table 18a: Schools Summary

Appendix D contains notes relevant to this data table

Symbols used within this table: (z) = Not Applicable

Value	Unit	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	Change 2022–23 – 2023–24
Built Assets [footnote 22]	Number	63,970	63,970	63,970	(z) [footnote 23]
Total Floor Area (note 1)	m2	78.7m	78.7m	78.7m	(z) [footnote 24]

Data on the number and total floor area of all state-funded schools is drawn from the Condition Data Collection (CDC). The CDC is a five-yearly programme, and data sourced from the CDC is updated at that frequency, with the most recent update in 2021 and based on information collected in the period 2017–19. Acquisitions and disposals information is not reported for the school estate, as schools do not form part of the government estate and are therefore out of scope of Office of Government Property reporting pipelines.

The gross internal floor area (GIFA) measurement in CDC is a calculation of the total floor area in a school. The CDC GIFA is the area of a building measured using the external face of the perimeter walls at each floor level, which includes areas such as those occupied by internal walls and partitions. The GIFA calculation is not based upon the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) definition of GIFA (which would, e.g., discount external wall thickness) but is taken from Ordnance Survey (OS)-based information, and consequently a +/− 10% tolerance is allowed, given the limitations of site measurement and the base information from which measurement is taken.

Table 18b: Academies Summary

Appendix D contains notes relevant to this data table

Symbols used within this table: (z) = Not Applicable

Value	Unit	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	Change 2022–23 – 2023–24
Academy Premises Value (note 12)	£	56.1bn	57.9bn	59.8bn	(z) [footnote 25]
Academy Premises Cost (note 13)	£	2.3bn	2.5bn	2.9bn	(z) [footnote 26]

Valuation data and premises costs are available for academies only.^{[footnote 27]} This reporting is on an academic year basis (September-August), in line with academies’ financial reporting period. The most recent update relates to data for the academic year to 31 August 2023.

The valuation data included in the return has been represented to reflect the valuations as recognised in the academy trusts’ own accounts. This has been done with the agreement of the Cabinet Office to remove the impact of IFRS 16, which is included in the academies sector annual reports and accounts (SARA). Questions of tenure type and land ownership for school premises are complex, so this value will largely reflect sites occupied on a freehold or virtual freehold basis only and will exclude assets occupied under shorter lease terms or alternative forms of tenure.

From this year, figures on running costs are based on information reported in academy trusts’ annual accounts through the Trust Online Form, with information for prior years also provided on a like-for-like basis. This has been done to more closely model the cash running costs for academy trusts. This data provides an accurate assessment of total running costs, but does not allow a further breakdown. Data published in previous versions of this report was drawn from the Academies Consolidated Annual Report and Accounts, and so is not directly comparable.

There has been a year-on-year increase in the number of schools classified as academies. Academy valuation data and premises costs are therefore not directly comparable over time due to year-on-year increases in the number of schools included. As of January 2024, 43.5% of all schools were academies.

3.14 Science Portfolio

The Science portfolio encompasses laboratories, science sites and research facilities. Scientific research is crucial for the economic success of the country and this portfolio plays a vital role. Defence Science properties are included in the Defence portfolio.

Figure 17: Science Portfolio Summary

• Built Assets - 709, 717 (22‑23), down 1.1%
• Floor Area - 1.3m m², 1.3m m² (22‑23), down 1.3%
• Freehold Value - £2.7bn, £2.6bn (22-23), up 4.8%

Table 19: Science Portfolio Summary

Appendix D contains notes relevant to this data table

Symbols used within this table: (z) = Not Applicable, (x) = Not available

Value	Sub Value	Unit	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	Change 2022–23 – 2023–24
Built Assets		Number	676	717	709	-1.1%
Total Floor Area (note 1)		m2	1.3m	1.3m	1.3m	-1.3%
	Freehold	m2	984.2k	1.0m	1.0m	-1.1%
	Leasehold	m2	227.9k	261.9k	240.3k	-8.3%
	PFI	m2	16.1k	16.1k	16.1k	0.0%
	Other	m2	36.6k	25.4m	41.6k	63.9%
Vacant Floor Area		m2	3.8k	3.3k	3.3k	0.0%
Surplus Floor Area (note 2)		m2	3.1k	3.1k	3.1k	0.0%
Freehold Value (note 3)		£	2.3bn	2.6bn	2.7bn	4.8%
Total Running Costs (note 4)		£	208.0m	218.2m	256.0m	(z)
	Annual Rent for Leaseholds (note 4)	£	17.5m	10.8m	9.9m	(z)
	Annual Rates	£	(x)	27.6m	27.1m	-2.1%
	Security Costs	£	(x)	9.1m	9.5m	4.1%
	Soft FM	£	(x)	73.5m	110.1m	(z)
	Hard FM (note 5)	£	(x)	70.8m	69.3m	-2.2%
	Other Costs	£	(x)	26.3m	30.1m	(z)
Number of Buildings Requiring an EPC		Number	96	109	103	-5.5%
	Number of Buildings EPC A-C	Number	46	64	66	3.1%
New Acquisitions (note 6)		Number	(x)	13	0	(z)
Number of Disposals (note 7)		Number	(x)	0	0	(z)
Disposal Proceeds (note 7)		£	(x)	0.0k	0.0k	(z)

In 2023–24, the Science portfolio comprised 709 built assets, representing a 1.1% decrease compared with the previous year. The total floor area remained steady at 1.3 million m², with freehold properties accounting for the majority at 1.0 million m², a slight decrease of 1.1%. Leasehold properties experienced a decline of 8.3%, reducing to 240.3k m², reflecting rationalisation efforts by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Vacant and surplus floor areas remained stable at 3.3k m² and 3.1k m², indicating no significant changes in space utilisation within the portfolio.

The freehold value of the portfolio increased by 4.8%, reaching £2.7 billion, reflecting appreciation in property values and targeted investments in high-value assets reported by the UK Health Security Agency (+50% with an increase of £95.6 million), the Met Office (+16.8% with an increase of £17.9 million) and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (+3.9% with an increase of £4.6 million).

Total running costs totalled £256.0 million; this was primarily a result of improved financial reporting by the UK Health Security Agency and NHS Blood and Transplant. Additionally, hard FM costs decreased slightly by 2.2%, reaching £69.3 million, reflecting efficiencies in maintenance services.

3.15 Remaining Estate Portfolio

The remaining estate covers a wide variety of asset types, including ancillary uses for the operational estate, conference/training facilities and industrial buildings. This portfolio also includes organisations with data that is difficult to disaggregate – for example, small organisations with a diverse portfolio of operational and multi-purpose assets such as those managed by the British Transport Police, the MGCA, and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

Figure 18: Remaining Estate Portfolio Summary

• Built Assets
• Floor Area (m²)
• Running Cost
• Surplus Floor Area (m²)

Table 20: Remaining Estate Portfolio Summary

Appendix D contains notes relevant to this data table

Symbols used within this table: (z) = Not Applicable, (x) = Not available

Value	Sub Value	Unit	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	Change 2022–23 – 2023–24 (note 9)
Built Assets		Number	2,555	4,057	4,156	2.4%
Total Floor Area (note 1)		m2	988.6k	1.0m	1.1m	3.2%
	Freehold	m2	567.9k	620.1k	661.4k	6.7%
	Leasehold	m2	287.4k	279.1k	280.4k	0.5%
	PFI	m2	0	0	0	-
	Other	m2	133.2k	286.9k	122.1k	-57.5%
Vacant Floor Area		m2	6.0k	5.2k	4.9k	-6.0%
Surplus Floor Area (note 2)		m2	10.9k	11.2k	22.9k	104.0%
Freehold Value (note 3)		£	793.0m	881.7m	888.8m	0.8%
Total Running Costs (note 4)		£	165.4m	221.8m	244.4m	10.2%
	Annual Rent for Leaseholds (note 4)	£	56.8m	60.3m	56.4m	-6.4%
	Annual Rates	£	(x)	25.8m	30.7m	19.1%
	Security Costs	£	(x)	5.1m	8.0m	56.3%
	Soft FM	£	(x)	28.0m	44.6m	59.1%
	Hard FM (note 5)	£	(x)	84.2m	84.8m	0.7%
	Other Costs	£	(x)	18.4m	20.0m	8.4%
Number of Buildings Requiring an EPC		Number	617	2,046	2,162	5.7%
	Number of Buildings EPC A-C	Number	135	551	414	-24.9%
New Acquisitions (note 6)		Number	(x)	69	71	(z)
Number of Disposals (note 7)		Number	(x)	19	17	(z)
Disposal Proceeds (note 7)		£	(x)	47.6m	7.1m	(z)

In 2023–24, the portfolio included 4,156 built assets, representing a 2.4% increase compared with the previous year. Total floor area increased by 3.2% to 1.1 million m². This growth was primarily driven by increases in freehold floor area, which rose by 6.7%, while leasehold properties saw a modest increase of 0.5%.

Vacant floor area reduced by 6.0%, declining to 4.9k m², while surplus floor area more than doubled, rising by 104.0% to 22.9k m² mainly due to an increase in goods vehicle testing stations (GVTS) being rationalised by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and other rationalisation efforts by NHS Property Services.

Total running costs for the portfolio increased by 10.2%, totalling £244.4 million. Key drivers of this rise included a 59.1% increase in soft FM costs, which reached £44.6 million, and a 56.3% increase in security costs, which totalled £8.0 million. Hard FM costs grew more modestly by 0.7% to £84.8 million, while annual rates increased by 19.1%, reaching £30.7 million.

The portfolio recorded 71 new acquisitions, while disposals from the portfolio stood at 17 and generated £7.1 million.

Appendix A: Associated Publications

Associated tables, underlying datasets and documents relating to this publication are available on GOV.UK alongside this report.

State of the Estate Report

The State of the Estate Report report summarises progress on improving the efficiency and sustainability of the government estate in accordance with the 2008 Climate Change Act.

The Government Property Data Standard

The Government Property Data Standard is designed to improve data quality throughout the public sector estate.

Whole of Government Accounts

Whole of Government Accounts is a consolidated set of financial statements for the UK public sector.

Schools

The School portfolio uniquely relies on data which is published by the Department for Education (DfE):

The Condition Data Collection (CDC)

Consolidated Annual Report and Accounts

NHS England Statistical Pages and NHS Digital Publications

A&E Attendances and Emergency Admissions

Finished Admission Episodes (Inpatient): Hospital Admitted Patient Care Activity – NHS England Digital

Hospital Outpatient Activity – NHS England Digital

Appendix B: Reporting Organisations

AGO	Attorney General’s Office
GLD	Government Legal Department
SFO	Serious Fraud Office
DBT	Department for Business and Trade
BBB	British Business Bank
CH	Companies House
CMA	Competition and Markets Authority
GCA	Groceries Code Adjudicator
HMLR	Land Registry
IS	Insolvency Service
DESNZ	Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
CNPA	Civil Nuclear Police Authority
CH	Companies House
NDA	Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
NSTA	North Sea Transition Authority
Ofgem	Office of Gas and Electricity Markets
CCC	Climate Change Committee
SF	Salix Finance
UKAEA	UK Atomic Energy Authority
DSIT	Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
ICO	Information Commissioner’s Office
IPO	Intellectual Property Office
Met Office	Meteorological Office
NPL	National Physical Laboratory
PSA	Phone-paid Services Authority
UKRI	UK Research and Innovation
UKSBS	UK Shared Business Service
UKSA	UK Space Agency
Ofcom	Office of Communications
CO	Cabinet Office
EHRC	Equality and Human Rights Commission
GPA	Government Property Agency
DCMS	Department for Culture, Media and Sport
ACE	Arts Council England
BFI	British Film Institute
BL	British Library
BM	British Museum
CC	Charity Commission
HBLB	Horserace Betting Levy Board
IWM	Imperial War Museum
MoH	Museum of the Home
NCS	National Citizen Service
NG	National Gallery
NHMF	National Heritage Memorial Fund
NLCF	National Lottery Community Fund
RMG	Royal Museums Greenwich (National Maritime Museum)
NML	National Museums Liverpool
NPG	National Portrait Gallery
NHM	Natural History Museum
	Wallace Collection
CCT	Churches Conservation Trust
DCMS	Department for Culture, Media and Sport
GC	Gambling Commission
HE	Historic England
	Horniman Museum
SMG	Science Museum Group
	Royal Armouries
	Sir John Soane’s Museum
SE	Sport England
SGSA	Sports Grounds Safety Authority
	Tate Modern
TNA	The National Archives
UKAD	UK Anti-Doping
UKS	UK Sport
VAM	Victoria and Albert Museum
VB	VisitBritain
Defra	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
FC	Forestry Commission
DfE	Department for Education
CITB	Construction Industry Training Board
	LocatED
Ofqual	Office of Qualifications and Examination Regulation
Ofsted	Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills
OS	Office for Students
	Schools
SLC	Student Loans Company
DfT	Department for Transport
ATE	Active Travel England
BTP	British Transport Police
DfT	Department for Transport
DVLA	Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
DVSA	Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
EWR	East West Rail
HS2	High Speed 2
MCGA	Maritime and Coastguard Agency
NH	National Highways
NR	Network Rail
ORR	Office of Rail and Road
TF	Transport Focus
VCA	Vehicle Certification Agency
DHSC	Department for Health and Social Care
CQC	Care Quality Commission
DHSC	Department for Health and Social Care
	Genomics England
	Human Tissue Authority
MHRA	Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency
	National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
NHS B&T	NHS Blood and Transplant
	NHS Business Services Authority
	NHS Community Health Partnerships
NHSCFA	NHS Counter Fraud Authority
	NHS England and NHS Improvement
	NHS Property Services
	NHS Resolution
	Public Health England (now UK Health Security Agency)
	Supply Chain Coordination Limited
DLUHC	Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
HE	Homes England
LGSC	Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
RSH	Regulator of Social Housing
PI	Planning Inspectorate
VTS	Valuation Tribunal Service
DWP	Department for Work and Pensions
HSE	Health and Safety Executive
PO	Pensions Ombudsman
PR	The Pensions Regulator
ECGD	UK Export Finance
FSA	Food Standards Agency
FCDO	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
BC	British Council
HMRC	HM Revenue and Customs
VOA	Valuation Office Agency
HMT	HM Treasury
GAD	Government Actuary’s Department
NS&I	National Savings and Investments
RM	Royal Mint
UK DMO	UK Debt Management Office
HO	Home Office
MOJ	Ministry of Justice
MOD	Ministry of Defence
NIO	Northern Ireland Office
ONS	Office for National Statistics
PHSO	Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
SO	Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland
WO	Office of the Secretary of State for Wales

Notes:

• The above list of organisations represents organisations that submitted a separate data return for their estate. It is not a list of all departmental organisations; organisations not listed will be covered under a group departmental return or within another organisation’s return.
• The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) existed until 2023, when it was split to form the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). Responsibility for national security and investment policy has gone to the Cabinet Office.

Appendix C: Revisions

This publication contains revised figures each year where organisations have made changes to their previously reported data. A full list of revisions can be found alongside this publication at State of the Estate in 2023–24 on GOV.UK.

Appendix D: Notes on Portfolio Data Tables

Note Number	Text
note 1	Floor area measurements are presented according to the portfolio they belong to: in the Office and Jobcentre portfolios, measurements are in square metres (m²), Net Internal Area (NIA); Defence portfolio: in m², Gross External Area (GEA); all other portfolios: in m², Gross Internal Area (GIA).
note 2	Surplus area is collected from 2021–22.
note 3	Freehold value includes values that have been recorded for freehold properties and virtual freeholds which have been acquired through an upfront capital payment and where only a minimal peppercorn rent, ground rent or service charge is paid.
note 4	The previous years’ running costs, and its individual components, have been adjusted for inflation in line with services producer price inflation deflators as at March each year. (note 14)
note 5	Where costs cannot be easily separated into soft and hard FM, FM costs are reported under Hard FM.
note 6	The number of new acquisitions is collected from 2022–23.
note 7	Disposal information from 2022-23 is collected through the Efficiency and Disposal programme in OGP. These reflect gross capital receipts from the sale of land and property at the point where the sale is considered unconditional. A wider definition for recording receipts from disposals was used in 2021 and 2022 when the Disposals programme was not active. This wider definition permitted exits from leasehold properties, and as such the data on government disposals is not directly comparable between 2022-23 and the previous two years. Previous years’ data are therefore not presented.
note 8	Data on premises costs for the school estate relates to academies only and excludes other types of schools. It is based on information reported in academy trusts’ annual accounts through the Trust Online Form on an academic year (September-August) basis. No further breakdown is available. The most recent update relates to data for the academic year to 31 August 2023. With the agreement of the Cabinet Office, the data for the 2020/21 and 2021–22 academic years has been represented to show the data before consolidation adjustments prepared by the Department for Education (DfE). This has been done to more closely model the cash running costs for academy trusts.
note 9	Year-on-year changes are not displayed where comparisons are not like for like – for example, due to improvements in data quality or reporting.
note 10	Changes in PFI are not displayed. Within the Health portfolio, data for sites including those which are part PFI cannot be broken down. Increases in part PFI sites suggest changes occurring in relation to non-PFI buildings on the site, as no new PFI schemes have gone live.
note 11	The Land portfolio does not include land associated with a building or buildings (and so cannot be developed). This approach to the way land is reported was adopted from 2021–22. In earlier reporting periods land assets associated with buildings, even where this land could not be developed, were captured under each portfolio as distinct land assets, as land reporting prior to 2021–22 is not like for like. Here 2021-22 figures are used as a proxy for 2020–21. This note only applies to the Land portfolio.
note 12	Valuation data relates to academies only and is reported on an academic year basis. There has been a year-on-year increase in the number of schools classified as academies. Academy valuation data and premises costs are therefore not directly comparable over time due to year-on-year increases in the number of schools included. This note applies only to the Academies 2020–21–2023–24 table [Table 18b].
note 13	The premises costs relate to academies only and are reported on an academic year basis.The previous years’ costs have been adjusted for inflation in line with services producer price inflation deflators as at March each year. There has been a year-on-year increase in the number of schools classified as academies. Academy valuation data and premises costs are therefore not directly comparable over time due to year-on-year increases in the number of schools included. This note applies only to the Academies 2020–21-2023–24 table [Table 18b]. (note 14)
note 14	Link to ONS services producer price index
note 15	Running costs for the secondary health sector under the Health portfolio include both pay and non-pay items. Cost information for this sector is collected through the Estates Return Information Collection (ERIC), and it is not possible to separate pay costs from non-pay items. The ERIC aims to reflect how the estates service is managed. While ERIC captures the pay costs of estates staff, it does not capture the pay costs of clinical staff providing clinical services.
note 16	Symbols used within the tables (z) = Not applicable (x) = Not available