The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government plans to vacate its current central London headquarters by the end of next year, the department has confirmed.
MHCLG is currently based at 2 Marsham Street, alongside the Home Office and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Civil Service World reported on MHCLG’s relocation plans last year, when they were included as part of a tranche of departmental strategic asset management plans published by the Cabinet Office.
The department has now given a timescale for its move to Government Offices Great George Street – or GOGGS for short. It says the relocation “is expected to take place within the next 12 months”.
GOGGS comprises 1 Horse Guards Road at its western end and 100 Parliament Street at the east and is principally known as being the base for HM Treasury. However, previous occupiers have included the Local Government Board and the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, making the move a homecoming of sorts for MHCLG.
According to the latest update of MHCLG’s strategic asset management plan, the department has around 2,400 staff based at Marsham Street, representing just over half of its total headcount. Roughly 300 staff are based at the department’s second headquarters in Wolverhampton.
The department’s move to GOGGS is part of the Government Property Agency’s Plan for London, which involves the further consolidation of government’s central London offices, with the closure of 11 buildings by 2032.
Among the buildings being vacated are the Ministry of Justice’s 102 Petty France headquarters, the Department of Health and Social Care’s main base at 39 Victoria Street, and the Department for Work and Pensions’ Caxton House headquarters.
DWP extends stay at Caxton House
DWP was originally due to move out of its HQ in Tothill Street this summer. However the department now expects to stay in the building until early next year before relocating staff to part of the Department for Education’s Sanctuary Buildings headquarters in nearby Great Smith Street.
Sanctuary Buildings actually comprises three structures, two of which are grade II listed and sit within the Westminster Abbey and Parliament Square Conservation Area. Upgrade work to increase capacity and modernise services at the site has been ongoing in recent years.
Work on windows at Sanctuary Buildings is still the subject of a pending planning application.
CSW understands that DWP’s move is now planned for March 2027 and that no staff are expected to vacate Caxton House before the end of this year.
Last year the Cabinet Office said the Plan for London would result in savings of £94m a year by 2032. As of this month, four of the 11 buildings have so-far closed, resulting in annual running-cost savings of £17.5m.
According to DWP, leaving Caxton House will contribute £19m a year to the overarching Plan for London target.
The MoJ is expected to leave 102 Petty France by the end of 2028. The building is due to be redeveloped as a hotel.
DHSC has not set a timescale for its departure from Victoria Street. The department did not respond to CSW’s request for information on the move.