Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many buildings owned by Government Departments are currently empty in (a) Norfolk and (b) North Norfolk; and if he will provide a list of those buildings, the Departments to which they belong and the plans he has for their future use.

Cabinet Office only has records of core central property that have been provided by departments. The Government Property Unit is responsible for minimising vacancy by supporting departments to sell, sublet, find alternative use, and to do early surrenders. Interventions such as these have contributed significantly to minimising the vacancy rates and cost to the taxpayer.

As shown in the State of the Estate Report 2015-16 published in February 2017, total vacant space represents 1.4% of the entire Central Estate, a drop of 2% from 2014–15. This is well below the average in the private sector of 8.9%.

No buildings appear on the unit’s electronic property system as vacant in North Norfolk area. In the wider Norfolk area, there is one building that is vacant and records show that this building was used for vehicle testing and is being marketed for sale:

List A: Vacant building in Norfolk