The Ministry of Defence has not made the most efficient use of its £20bn property estate and should sell more land to slash costs.
In a critical report published today, the National Audit office says that while the department raised £3.4bn from the sale of surplus property between 1998 and 2008 the department should be doing more to consider “what minimum estate will be required to meet future needs of the reshaped armed forces”.
The department has identified just 12% of sites, or 2% of its estate by size, as suitable for disposal.
The NAO writes that the department’s process for selecting sites should be reviewed as it “does not give sufficient weight to other factors such as how heavily a site is used, running costs or potential income from sale”.
The MoD owns about 240,000ha and has rights of access to a further 13,000ha in the
It manages 200,000ha overseas. Its total value is nearly £20bn, with 4,000 sites including airfields, naval bases and barracks.
The NAO found the department had insufficient data to balance meeting operational requirements and reducing estate costs.
Andrew Robathan, minister for defence personnel, welfare and veterans, said: “We accept that more needs to be done and officials will consider the report’s recommendations in detail.”
He said he was committed to bringing down the costs of the estate further.
paul.norman@estatesgazette.com
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