§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the buildings currently owned or rented by his Department, together with(a) the estimated value, (b) the annual rent and (c) the annual maintenance cost of each building in the current financial year.
Mr. John M. TaylorOn 1 April 1993, the Lord Chancellor's Department occupied some 512 buildings. These comprise:
Departmental Estate1 Common User Estate2 Freehold Leasehold Freehold Leasehold 138 95 72 207 1 Departmental Estate: LCD has full responsibility for maintenance of these buildings and meeting the terms and conditions of any leaseholds, including payment of rent to landlords. 2 Common User Estate: The responsibility for meeting the terms and conditions of any leaseholds, including payment of rent to landlords, is with Property Holdings. LCD has some maintenance liability but the extent of this will vary according to the maintenance option appropriate to each building. Due to the substantial number of buildings occupied, these have not been listed, but a full list is available should the hon. Member require it.
Estimated value is not available. To carry out a full valuation would incur disproportionate costs. In common with most other Government Departments, my Department is required to pay annually the full opportunity cost rent to Property Holdings for all properties except those held leasehold on the departmental estate. For the latter, the actual rent due under the terms of the lease is paid direct to landlords. If this is lower than the opportunity cost rent, the balance is payable to Property Holdings. This ensures that we are fully aware of the estimated current market rent of all accommodation occupied. In 1993–94, our opportunity cost rent and actual liability is expected to be some £76 million. We also expect to spend some £l1 million on maintaining our estate.