§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his latest estimate is of the(a) market value and (b) same use value of FCO-owned land and buildings; and if he will make a statement. [98377]
§ Mr. RammellThe current Existing Use Value of the FCO estate at home and overseas is £1,026 million. The Open Market Value is £914 million.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his latest estimate is of the(a) same use value and (b) market value of the FCO properties at (i) Buenos Aires, Argentina, (ii) Bridgetown, Barbados, (iii) Santiago, Chile, (iv) Alexandria, Egypt, (v) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, (vi) Helsinki, Finland, (vii) Bordeaux, France, (viii) Lyon, France, (ix) Marseilles, France, (x) Paris, France and (xi) Strasbourg, France; what plans he has to sell these properties; and if he will make a statement. [98381]
§ Mr. RammellThe existing use values (EUV) and open market values (OMV) of FCO properties in the overseas posts in question is as follows:
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FCO overseas properties: EUV and OMV £000 Post EUV OMV Abuja 7,400 7,400 Accra 6,572 7,670 Addis Ababa 7,374 0 Alexandria 511 511 Ankara 6,030 0 Atlanta 902 902 Bangkok 6,077 14,088 Berlin 6,521 5,385 Bombay 1,687 1,687 Bordeaux 293 293 Boston 4,087 4,087 Bratislava 2,702 2,702 Bridgetown 3,044 3,044 Buenos Aires 3,427 3,427 Calcutta 1,419 1,419 Guatemala City 3,755 3,755 Helsinki 11,276 11,276 Hong Kong 69,550 0 Houston 1,184 1,184 Kaduna 400 400 Kingston 3,247 3,247 Lagos 20,900 20,925 Los Angeles 2,645 2,645 Lyon 0 0 Madras 893 2,078 Marseilles 362 362 Munich 0 0 Muscat 5,007 1,325
FCO overseas properties: EUV and OMV £000 Post EUV OMV Naples 0 0 New Delhi 40,820 7,023 Paris 62,497 62,497 Riyadh 4,344 4,344 Rome 41,784 41,784 Santiago 6,308 6,308 Seattle 685 685 Singapore 45,246 8,103 Strasbourg 580 580 Tokyo 55,184 0 I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him today, UIN 98441, for details of individual properties at these posts which are in the process of being sold, or which are currently being considered for sale.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his latest estimate is of the(a) same use value and (b) market value of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office properties at (i) Whitehall/King Charles Street, London, (ii) Hanslope Park, Milton Keynes, (iii) Old Admiralty Building, Whitehall, (iv) 1 Carlton Gardens, London and (v) Lancaster House, London; and what plans he has to sell these properties; and if he will make a statement. [98390]
§ Mr. RammellThe existing use values (EUV) and realisable open market values (OMV) of the FCO properties in the home estate are as follows:
- (a) London Main Building: EUV £50 million, OMV £50 million
- (b) Hanslope Park: EUV £11.5 million, OMV £11.5 million
- (c) Old Admiralty Building: EUV £25 million, OMV £25 million.
1 Carlton Gardens and Lancaster House are not owned by the FCO but leased from the Crown Estate.
The FCO has no plans to sell any of its properties in the home estate.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to sell FCO properties in(a) Hong Kong, (b) Singapore and (c) France; and if he will make a statement. [98439]
§ Mr. RammellWe are currently selling two staff flats in Paris but have no properties on the market in Hong Kong or Singapore.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which FCO properties his Department is(a) contracted to sell and (b) trying to sell; what sales proceeds are expected in each year to 2005–06; and if he will make a statement. [98441]
§ Mr. RammellThe FCO has currently outstanding instructions to proceed to the exchange of contracts for the sale of six properties overseas. We have also instructed agents to offer a further 23 properties for sale. I am withholding part of the information requested Under Exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information (Third Party's Commercial Confidence), as valuations remain confidential until contracts are exchanged in order to maximise the return from sales.
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FCO property sales as at 18 February 2003 Post Address Sale considered or under way but not yet in contract Kuala Lumpur 432 Jalan Tun Razak Nairobi 2 Kenya Road Nairobi 3 Kenya Road Port Louis Trent Lodge Pretoria 218 Crown Avenue Beirut Abey Villa Tunis Part of Habous Field Gothenburg Residence Stenkleviden Madrid Avenida Ahones 9 Madrid Chalet 33 La Moralejo Madrid Flat 4 floor 5 Cerro de Castanar Paris Flat 146 34 Marc Chagall Paris Flat 148 34 Marc Chagall Budapest Flat 1 Kikelet Budapest Flat 2 Kikelet Budapest Flat 3 Kikelet Caracas Office Torre Las Mercedes Guatemala Avenida 7ta New York 4 East 66th Street Madrid Cerro de Valdematin Kiev Plot Redbouutnaya Street Street 9 Lima Plaza Washington Washington 76 Kalorama Drive In contract but not yet completed: Port of Spain 36 Elizabeth Street Capetown 91 Parliament Street Nairobi Maji Mazuri Amman Mufti House Madrid Flat 4 floor 4 Cerro de Castanar Bridgetown DS10 House 4 Square The target for the Third Triennium (financial years 2003–04 to 2005–06) is for £100 million of gross sales. The amount realised in each of the three years will depend heavily on market conditions and changing operational requirements.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what criteria are used to decide whether to possess an embassy or consular building in a particular(a) city and (b) country; and if he will make a statement. [98376]
§ Mr. RammellIf accommodation is required in a particular city or country, the value for money offered by freehold purchase as opposed to leasing is assessed by comparing the costs and benefits of the two options using the techniques prescribed by the Treasury's guidance on appraisal and evaluation in Central Government (the "Green Book"). A decision to purchase a property freehold or long leasehold will also depend on whether the requirement is permanent, whether foreign governments are permitted to acquire such interests and whether, in practice, they are available on the market, and whether a purchase can be funded from the FCO's budget for capital investment.
In addition to using Treasury Appraisal techniques when deciding whether or not to purchase property freehold, the FCO monitors the value for money provided by its existing freehold and long leasehold estate using similar criteria to check that the retention of an owned property remains a better option than leasing.
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