Government-led initiatives to shrink the size of the public-sector estate and ensure that remaining buildings are more energy-efficient led to savings of £449.5m in 2024-25, the Cabinet Office has said.
According to the department’s latest State of the Estate report, the most recent property-related savings mean that efficiencies of £750m have now been racked up over three years.
The figures come against the backdrop of programmes to move staff out of high-cost, underused buildings and into high-quality, green workplaces within the existing government estate.
The State of the Estate 2024-25 report also says that more than £367.3m was raised through the sale of surplus buildings and land over the course of the year, bringing the three-year total to £2bn.
Some 320 “surplus assets” were sold off during 2024-25. The closure of 18-storey Windsor House in Victoria Street, London, alone saw the relocation of more than 1,000 civil servants to existing government space elsewhere.
Windsor House was previously a base for officials from Homes England, the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service, National Savings and Investments and the Office of Manpower Economics.
The Cabinet Office said the disposals supported the government’s goal to reduce its presence in the capital as part of the Plan for London, ensuring a smaller, more sustainable, and more productive estate.
Cabinet Office minister Anna Turley said the latest efficiency figures represented a “major milestone” in the government’s commitment to “creating a more productive and agile state”.
“By creating a better, smaller and greener estate, we’ve already saved nearly £450m in a single year, money that can be better spent delivering on the public’s priorities,” she said.
“At the same time, we’re taking more decision-making out of Whitehall and moving it closer to communities all across the UK. Whether it is through record-breaking solar projects or smarter use of our buildings, we are ensuring our estate is fit for the future and providing value for money.”
The core aim of the annual State of the Estate report is to document progress towards improving the energy efficiency and sustainability of the government estate, under the provisions of the Climate Change Act 2008.
The Cabinet Office said energy consumption has reduced by nearly 18% since 2017-18, with energy costs across the government estate cut by an estimated £323.6m.
It added that greenhouse gas emissions have also fallen by 42% over the same period, exceeding official targets.
As of 2023-24's State of the Estate report, greenhouse gas emissions had fallen by just under 41% since 2017-18. Total energy consumption was 16.6% lower than in the 2017-18 baseline.