The future of 33 Defra offices are under review, MHCLG has confirmed it is moving to 1 Horse Guards Road, and DBT will open an extra office in SW1.
These and more departmental estate plans have been revealed in transparency documents published on GOV.UK.
On 30 October, the Cabinet Office published the executive summaries of 12 departments’ strategic asset management plans.
Plans were published for: the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Department for Business and Trade; Department for Energy Security and Net Zero; Department for Health and Social Care; Department for Science, Innovation and Technology; Department for Transport; Department for Work and Pensions; HM Revenue and Customs; Home Office; Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government; Ofsted; and the Serious Fraud Office.
Here are some of the highlights from the plans.
Defra identifies 33 locations 'for further review'
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is considering the future of 33 of its offices.
The department said in its strategic asset management plan that it had carried out an assessment of 49 of its offices as part of its 2045 location strategy and “identified a minimum of 16 offices/locations to retain and 33 locations for further review”.
The 2045 strategy is focused on “opportunities to streamline” its office portfolio and aims to help make the department’s estate “better, smaller and greener”, Defra said.
It aims to achieve this through: consolidating into fewer total locations; rationalisation of accommodation at lease breaks and lease expiry; remaining in locations that suit the department’s needs; relocating to better quality and more sustainable offices; delivering an office estate that will be considerably smaller; and aligning with the 2022-2030 Government Property Strategy.
Defra said it will work with the Government Property Agency, Office for Government Property and other departments “to look at where our strategic locations allow shared placemaking ambitions”.
The department also noted that “even by reducing the estate, there will likely be an increase in cost if we are to deliver better quality and more sustainable properties”.
The strategic asset management plan also says that the 2045 strategy will be “a foundation stone for future workforce planning efforts that may see the number of Defra hubs rise above four, to give more choice of locating policy teams outside of Greater London”. Defra currently has hubs in Bristol, York, Newcastle and London.
A Defra spokesperson said: "We are constantly assessing the need for our corporate and operational spaces in line with the smaller, greener and better aspirations of the wider Government Estates Strategy.
"Each case for change will be looked at individually and we will continue to ensure taxpayer funds are protected for frontline services."
DBT to get new London office
The Department for Business and Trade will consolidate its central London estate into two buildings: its headquarters at the Old Admiralty Building and a "new premises" at 50 Broadway, which is a former headquarters for MI6 and opposite St. James's Park tube station. DBT expects to complete this streamlining of office space by 2026-27.
It is also aiming to reduce its overall estate from 23 to 10 buildings by 2028 and said this will “offer substantial cost and space saving efficiencies across the estate”.
Smaller regional offices will be consolidated and focused in seven Places for Growth hub locations: Cardiff, Birmingham, Darlington, Belfast, Edinburgh, Greater Manchester and London. Moves to new Government Property Agency-managed hubs in Manchester (First Street) and Darlington (Brunswick Street) are set to happen by 2026 and 2028 respectively.
DBT is also planning “significant space expansion” in its Birmingham hub by autumn 2026.
The overall plan will see office space “right-sized to match workforce plans and support collaboration, modern ways of working and cross-government networking opportunities”.
The plan also notes that DBT has added 500 roles to Places for Growth hubs since 2023 and currently has over 1,600 roles outside of London. It says DBT is aiming for at least 35% of its roles to be based outside London by 2030.
A DBT spokesperson said: “As part of government plans to reshape the state and deliver our Plan for Change, DBT will support a leaner and more efficient civil service, helping to reduce administration costs by 15% by the end of the decade.
"In line with these plans, we aim to reduce the number of DBT locations, but no financial decisions have been taken."
HMRC's regional hub programme update
HM Revenue and Customs' plan gives an update on its long-running hubs programme, which is moving operations from around 170 small offices to 14 regional centres.
It says the HMRC Locations Programme, launched in 2015, is on track to close during the 2030-31 financial year. The new regional centre in Newcastle's Pilgrim's Quarter, which will be the department's biggest hub and host around 9,000 officials, is still expected to open in 2027.
HMRC is the process of "delivering solutions" in East Kilbride and Telford, the plan says.
In East Kilbride, CSW understands this involves carrying out work to ensure an existing building meets departmental needs for the remainder of the lease. HMRC reaffirmed its long-term commitment to East Kilbride last year, after the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office delayed plans to move its Scotland base from East Kilbride to Glasgow. HMRC, which currently leases Queensway House in East Kilbride, was slated to take over the government-owned Abercrombie House from the FCDO, but staff were told last year that they would be staying at Queensway House until 2031.
In Telford, HMRC is moving from its current site at Telford Plaza to the government-owned Parkside Court on Hall Park Way. The department last month appointed construction firm GRAHAM to deliver a £20m refurbishment of the new office which is expected to be completed in 2026.
The document also says the department is "exploring potential solutions" in Preston, Portsmouth and an additional site in Manchester/Salford.
In Manchester/Salford, the department is still in the process of securing the second phase of its regional hub office. In phase one of the move, 2,000 staff relocated to new offices at 3 New Bailey, with 2,500 remaining at Trinity Bridge House. Once the next phase of the hub is ready, all HMRC officials will leave Trinity Bridge House.
In Preston, HMRC had originally planned to close its tax office at St Mark's House and St Mary's House in 2025 and move more than 1,000 staff to regional centres in Manchester and Liverpool. But in 2023, it overturned this decision and second perm sec Angela MacDonald announced HMRC's "long-term commitment to keeping skilled jobs in Preston". HMRC has yet to confirm if St Mark’s House and St Mary’s House will be retained or if a new base will be established elsewhere in the city.
In Portsmouth, HMRC had planned to move staff from their current Lynx House office to a new regional centre in late 2027, which was to be built on a former Matalan car park. However, in September, HMRC said it had pulled out of the move after "it became clear" that the developer was "unable to deliver the development in line with the terms agreed last year and provide value for money for the taxpayer". The department said staff would remain in Lynx House "for the foreseeable future while we consider our next steps".
MHCLG confirms move to 1 Horse Guards Road
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will move its London headquarters from 2 Marsham Street to 1 Horse Guards Road, the department's strategic asset management plan confirms. A specific date for the move is yet to be confirmed, according to the document.
The strategy also outlines the latest developments with its plans to shut six of its offices – in Newcastle, Exeter, Truro, Exeter, Sheffield, Birmingham and Warrington – which has led to action short of strike. It notes that the Newcastle and Exeter offices were closed this year, with the other four to follow by 2027.
As part of this reorgnisation, the department has said it will expand its presence in London, Wolverhampton, Darlington, Manchester and Bristol.
MHCLG said its property strategy will enable it to “create an efficient, well-utilised, high-quality, safe, accessible estate that includes the technology and infrastructure to enable smarter working”.
DHSC working on new Manchester health hub
The Department of Health and Social Care's plan sets out a series of projects it is working on, including a planned new health hub in Manchester. It says DHSC is working with GPA on the "creation of a Manchester Health hub in 2029".
The document also says the department will continue with its efforts on the Leeds Health and Social Care Hub. It describes the hub, which was created in 2022, as "a new way of collaborative working between national government and local NHS organisations and partners including local government, social care, voluntary organisations, education and industry".
The plan also says DHSC will create a roadmap for net zero for every building on its estate that "we will hold for five or more years and where we have operational control".
Other targets in the plan include acquiring new properties in Liverpool and Burnley "to increase efficiency", finding a "more efficient smaller building solution" to move health bodies in Cambridge into by the end of 2025, and support the move of organisations into surplus space in the Quarry House government hub in Leeds.