JLL has bagged a key role advising the government on its radical new hubs strategy, which will see thousands of civil servants relocated into shared accommodation.
The Government Property Unit has selected the firm as national property adviser to source locations for new multi-department headquarters across the country.
The instruction comes after the GPU unveiled a strategy to encourage Whitehall departments to vacate their often outdated office buildings in favour of modern premises which can be shared with multiple public sector bodies.
New rules which will impose market rents on central government occupiers in publicly owned freehold buildings were announced in the March Budget to help accelerate this process.
The rules are expected to prompt a wave of departments in prime central London locations to vacate their offices and seek new premises in cheaper areas on the outskirts of the capital and in the regions.
Areas such as Stratford, Croydon and Wembley are expected to be beneficiaries of the exodus as well as major regional cities.
The departure of civil servants from government-owned freeholds that were not developed using the Private Finance Initiative is likely to lead to sales of prime London sites for redevelopment.
jack.sidders@estatesgazette.com
