Put your property online, Pickles tells councils

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles wants public sector organisations in England, starting with councils, to publish registers of all their buildings and land. Today he published a ‘demo’ map showing more than 180,000 assets owned by almost 600 public sector bodies, including 87 councils.

Public sector assets are worth an estimated £385bn, with almost two-thirds owned by councils. Annual running costs are estimated to exceed £25bn and there is a backlog of about £40bn in maintenance and repair costs. Ministers estimate £35bn of savings could be made over ten years through better property management – unrelated to frontline public service provision.

Pickles said the public had a right to see the scale and variety of state-owned property, including pubs, farms and sports clubs. Communities could also use new rights in the Localism Bill to protect local treasures. Eventually the government wants the map to cover the whole country.

Today’s map shows Hampshire County Council owns around 2,000 hectares of farm land and property leased to private tenants. More than 130 cafes and restaurants, 100 pubs, 60 theatres and 40 hotels are also included.

Pickles said: ‘I want the public sector to take a good hard look at what they own. By cataloguing each and every asset, councils can help government find innovative new ways to utilise them, improve local services, keep council running costs down and save taxpayers’ money.

‘This asset information also holds huge potential for local communities, offering an at-a-glance way to find that new meeting place or rescue the derelict tennis court round the corner.’

The results of 11 council-led pilot projects, known as Capital and Assets Pathfinders, were also published today, revealing average savings of 20% for local authorities that rationalised their property portfolios. Worcestershire County Council, for example, discovered it was using 39 separate buildings for public sector training and conferences and is now seeking to reduce this. 

Communities minister Baroness Hanham called on Whitehall to follow local government’s lead in the development of ‘asset management’.

The Local Government Group will now take over responsibility from the government to extend the pathfinder work and help local areas identify savings.