19.09.17
Over £203m made through sale of NHS property since 2013
More than £203m has been raised for the health service by selling off 295 surplus NHS properties, figures released by the government have today revealed.
Since 2013-14, when NHS Property Services (NHSPS) was formed, to the end of the financial year 2016-17, £203.3m was raised through the sales.
Many of these sites were empty and not used at all by the NHS, but were still draining money from the health service due to costs related to rates, security and basic maintenance.
The figures for the last few years show a slight slowdown in selling, hitting a peak in 2014-15 with 118 properties being sold to make £57.7m – which dropped to £53.3m from 72 properties this year.
Kieran Kinsella, head of investment management at NHSPS, commented: “Our clear goal is always to generate maximum value from the sale of surplus NHS land, so we can reinvest in the NHS estate.
“By selling on land that the NHS no longer needs, we can help increase efficiency and reduce the operational costs of the estate we manage.”
In total, 295 transactions have been competed since 2013-14, which came from a mix of unused clinics, health centres and non-clinical buildings and land.
The sold properties have supported the development of 3,749 housing units with 2,748 currently under construction.
Some sites that have been sold include the former Ridge Hill hospital site in Wordsley, West Midlands – which was sold for £3.35m in March 2017.
A vacant health clinic in Brixton was also sold in September 2016, with NHSPS carrying out extensive planning work prior to marketing – resulting in an online planning consent for five town houses – and garnering a sale price of £2.4m.
Top Image: Brian A Jackson
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