Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of the office space owned or leased by his Department is not in regular use; what the total (a) rental and (b) retail value is of all such office space; and if he will place in the Library a copy of his most recent departmental real estate valuation.

Holdings of real estate are assessed as either being required to deliver departmental functions (forming the Core estate) or surplus to this requirement (Non-Core). There is no system for classifying frequency of use. The government's top priority for surplus holdings is to reduce property costs by exiting leasehold agreements, selling freeholds or by sub-letting to external tenants. We have a portal - Find Me Some Government Space (https://www.gov.uk/find-government-property) – for more efficient marketing of surplus land and buildings. This is searchable by developers, community groups and the general public.

It is considered not to be in the public interest to disclose real estate valuation reports, as this information can be commercially sensitive and any disclosure could adversely affect the Government’s future ability to negotiate efficiencies and achieve value for money to the taxpayer. However, the value of HM Treasury’s land and buildings is available in its annual report and accounts, which is accessible on www.gov.uk.