Research and analysis

Capacity of local authorities to accelerate the productive re-use of surplus land and property assets

The report outlines a two-stage study to assess the reuse, redevelopment and disposal of surplus local authority land and property assets and the extent to which this could be accelerated to drive a number of outputs and outcomes.

• From: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
• Published: 29 January 2026

Applies to England

Documents

Capacity of local authorities to accelerate the productive re-use of surplus land and property assets

PDF, 1.36 MB, 80 pages

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Details

This report was commissioned by MHCLG under a previous administration and is being published for transparency purposes. It represents the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the Department, and nor is it a statement of policy.

The purpose of the study was to provide the Department with a robust understanding of:

• the drivers, behavioural and fiscal, for local authorities to utilise their brownfield land and redundant buildings – for managing assets, lettings or disposals

• the reasons that some local authorities have been more active utilising their brownfield land and redundant buildings than others

• the barriers to remove, and workable incentives to implement, accelerating local authorities’ productive use of their brownfield land and buildings

Published 29 January 2026