Recommendation 6

It is unclear how the government will meet its target for property disposals, given the past struggles of such programmes and current market uncertainty. The new government property strategy has set a target for disposing of surplus property, to generate £1.5 billion by 2025 that can be reinvested into the estate. Detailed plans have not been published about how it will achieve this target. In our report on the last disposals programme, many departments were significantly behind their targets for land disposals. This time, the Cabinet Office needs to ensure that the departments with the largest land holdings fully participate in the disposals programme. Recent market turbulence may also negatively impact the programme. Cabinet Office officials acknowledged such risks and assured us that there will not be a fire sale of assets. Recommendation 5: The Cabinet Office should write to us by April 2023, setting out how it intends to reach its property disposal target, including: • KPIs; • milestones; • disposals targets for each portfolio; Managing central government property 7 • how it is monitoring compliance from all departments; • and how it is ensuring value for money during market fluctuations