Less than six week after the sale of the historic Old War Office, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has admitted it will need to sell off more property and land if it is to keep pace with Government savings.
Although the department’s finances are “in a better shape than they were”, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon is expected to tell an independent think tank later today that more buildings, land and assets will be offered for sale this year.
It is not clear whether the minister has already identified potential disposals, but he is known to have questioned the need for 57 individual defence sites within the ring of the M25 motorway.
“The job’s far from over,” Fallon is expected to tell members of the Institute for Government. “Now we need to ask more questions about our assets … how many airfields do we need, how many cars and vehicles do we need, and how do we go further in rationalising our defence estate?”
He will also justify the sale of high-profile assets and large estates, saying there is a need for more of the profits going to support frontline troops. In recent years the MoD sell off has realised more than £380m.
The hint of more military buildings and land being offered to the private sector comes as the size of the army is being cut by a fifth to 82,000. David Cameron has also repeatedly refused to commit to maintaining Britain’s defence spending at two per cent of the country’s budget after the election.
“As in any big organisation the MoD must not merely be match-fit it must be permanently fit, fighting fit,” Fallon will say. “Every year we should be looking to take out unnecessary cost, to improve productivity, and to sweat our buildings and land so we can better support the front line.”
Contrasting the coalition Government’s measures to the “£38bn budget black hole” his department inherited, his speech claims: “The results of our reforms are clear … There is now a balanced budget, cost savings and equipment programmes that are overwhelmingly on time.
“We have got rid of old property we don’t need. Whether it’s an old barracks, a country house, some polo fields, or the Old War Office … But we need to go further in rationalising our defence estate.”
In December the ministry confirmed the 580,000 sq ft Old War Office (pictured) in Whitehall — where Sir Winston Churchill masterminded his Second World War strategy — has been sold on a long-lease arrangement to the Hinduja Group, in partnership with Spanish group Obrascon Huarte Lain Desarrollos. It is understood the 1,100 room property will be converted to a luxury hotel and residential apartments.
And earlier in the year the ministry disposed of another World War Two command centre with the £53m sale of the former Brompton Road Tube Station. It was taken over by the MoD after its closure as a Tube station in 1934.
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