Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the Guide for the Disposal of Surplus Land, published by his Department in March 2017, in the context of trends in the level of growth in the construction industry.

A Guide for the Disposal of Surplus Land, published March 2017, was withdrawn in June 2021. By then it was assessed as inadequate: it had out-of-date references and no longer reflected current government policy.

Subsequent government reports assessed delivery on the two primary targets for housing land and capital receipts. These showed the release of government-owned sites for redevelopment continued to make progress, and the receipts target was fully met. Land releases included NHS sites, for which an assessment of impact would routinely be made prior to release.

There are no plans at present to assess the adequacy of the 2017 guidance. Revised guidance will take account of property market and construction sector situations as well as social value and the three missions of the Government Property Strategy 2022-2030, including a ‘smaller, better, greener’ government estate.