Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Guide for the Disposal of Surplus Land, published by the Cabinet Office in 2017, whether the principle of (a) best value or (b) best consideration has been applied to the management of New Burlington House.

MHCLG holds the freehold for New Burlington House (NBH) in Piccadilly. We have 5 Learned Societies who occupy NBH and have been our tenants for over 100 years. The current lease which was agreed with the Learned Societies was put in place in 2005 and grants the Learned Societies an 80 year term lease. The Guide for the Disposal of Surplus Land has therefore not been applied in the management of NBH as the government has no plans to dispose of NBH.