Recommendation 15

We questioned whether the GPA used long-term leases for its government hubs, which might commit the government to paying above-market rents in the years to come.39 The GPA told us that the hubs programme relies on a mix of freeholds, short-term leases and long-term leases. The GPA made the case that long-term leases often achieve significantly lower rents, which can be passed on to departments who sub-let from the GPA, while allowing the government to make long-term plans. However, it is possible that the GPA will be stuck with long-term leases at above-market rates, passing on those higher rates to departments that sub-let space in the hubs. We were interested to hear the Cabinet Office discuss opportunities that might exist in the current market to generate better value by buying the freehold of some properties that are currently on long-term leases.40