HC Deb 23 May 1988 vol 134 cc61-2W
Mr. Redwood

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many acres of public sector freehold land the Property Services Agency has responsibility for in the civil estate;

(2) how many acres of leasehold land the Property Services Agency has responsibility for in the public civil estate;

(3) how many square metres of buildings the Property Services Agency has responsibility for in the civil freehold estate;

(4) how many square metres of buildings the Property Services Agency has responsibility for in civil leasehold estate with leases of over five years to run;

(5) how many acres of civil freehold land under the Property Services Agency's control are surplus to requirements or are currently not being used for operational purposes;

(6) how many square metres of buildings in the civil freehold estate are surplus to requirements or not currently being used for operational purposes;

(7) how many square metres of buildings are surplus to requirements or not being used for operational purposes in the Property Services Agency's civil leasehold estate.

Mr. Chope

The following statistical table shows the position at 31 March 1988:

Total Surplus
Land
Freehold1 24,959 acres 201 acres3
Leasehold1 762 acres
Buildings
Freehold 6.026 million square metres 144,000 square metres3 (2.4 per cent.)
Leasehold2 4.103 million square metres 58,000 square metres (1.4 percent.)
1 Includes area of land covered by buildings.
2 Buildings with leases of over five years to run.
3 Includes land and buildings currently being disposed of as well as property currently not being used for operational purposes.

Mr. Redwood

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many acres of freehold land the Property Services Agency has responsibility for in the Government's military estate;

(2) how many square metres of buildings the Property Services Agency has responsibility for in the military freehold estate;

(3) how many square metres of buildings the Property Services Agency has responsibility for in the military leasehold estate with buildings with leases of more than five years to run;

(4) how many acres of freehold land are surplus to requirements or not being used for operational purposes in the Property Services Agency's military estate;

(5) how many square metres of freehold buildings are surplus to requirements or not being used for operational purposes in the Property Services Agency's military estate.

Mr. Chope

Management responsibility for the Government's military estate is divided between the Ministry of Defence, which owns it, and the Property Services Agency, which acts as MOD's agent and adviser in its day-to-day management. As at 31 March there were 554,012 acres of freehold land on the defence estate in the United Kingdom of which 4,022 acres were surplus to defence requirements and with PSA for disposal. A great deal of information about buildings on the freehold and leasehold estate is held locally but could not be collated centrally other than at disproportionate cost. The responsibility for any land and buildings which may not be being used for operational purposes lies with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence.

Mr. Redwood

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many sq m of central London offices are occupied for public sector purposes within the Property Services Agency's leasehold and freehold estate;

(2) how many sq m of central London offices, leasehold and freehold, were occupied by Government Departments and other public sector bodies within the property Services Agency estate in 1979.

Mr. Chope

Approximately 1.6 million sq m of office space are currently occupied for public sector purposes within the PSA's estate in the following central London postal districts: WC1 and 2, WI, SW1, SE1 and EC1–4. Equivalent figures for these postal districts are not available for 1979. As a comparison, however, the total amount of office space occupied in Greater London as a whole in 1979 was 2.9 million sq m compared with 2.2 million sq m today.