Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of the public sector estate was vacant as of 1 May 2018.

Total vacant space for 2016-17 was 1.5% of the total Central Estate as per the State of the Estate report. The government vacancy rate remains 6 percentage points less than the private sector average of 7.5% and in the last four years, has fallen by 40% compared to a fall of 26% in the private sector average, reflecting better use of the estate

The State of the Estate report is published annually and provides information on the efficiency and sustainability of the central civil estate. Further details on vacant space is available in Chapter 2 of this report and can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-estate-report-2016-to-2017

The work on the State of the Estate 2017 - 2018 report is ongoing.