Disposal - Declaring property surplus to requirements
Surplus property flowchart (A002/1)
The procedure for declaring prorperty surplus to requirements is summarised in the Surplus property flowchart (.pdf format, 138 Kb) which shows the complete procedure through to instructing Law & Governance.
Declaring property surplus to directorate requirements (A002/2)
Declaring property surplus to directorate requirements (.doc format, 28 Kb)
Approval should be given by the Cabinet Member with responsibility for the service for which the property is held. A template of an email (.doc format, xxKb) to send to the Cabinet Member is attached. This can be sent by the Directorate property contact or the Property & Finance Strategy Team (in which case it should be copied to the Directorate property contact) and also copied to the Cabinet Member for Property & Finance and Local Member(s).
The date the approval is given by the Cabinet Member should be recorded on K2.
The relevant Cabinet Member for the property can be obtained from the Property & Finance Information & Support Team if this is not clear.
Circulating surplus property details within the council (A002/3)
A template of an email notification to be sent to all Directorate property contacts business managers (.doc format, 23Kb) is available. This should be sent by the P&F Strategy Team and should include the property address, a site plan / site area and any relevant supporting information. This is to determine whether there is any interest in the property from other directorates. All members of the P&F Strategy Team should also be copied into this correspondence to ensure that any current projects are picked up and to enable the Strategy Team to consider whether there are any wider strategic reasons why the site should be retained.
This part of the procedure may not always be appropriate, because the land may not actually be available for alternative OCC use. An example would be where a disposal is being progressed to facilitate a desired outcome (e.g. the sale of land at SS Phillip & James to facilitate a new railway line).
Declaring property surplus to council requirements (A002/4)
Declaring property surplus to council requirements (.doc format, 28 Kb)
If the site is not required for any other county council use, it can be declared surplus to the requirements of the county council by the Leader of the council. An example of an email that should be sent to obtain the agreement of the Leader (.doc format, 24Kb) is available. This should be sent by the P&F Strategy Team. It should be copied to the local member(s) and Cabinet member for Finance. In addition, if the sale is "off market" to a named purchaser for more than £25,000, agreement from the Leader and Deputy Leader is required, following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Property & Finance.
Declaring property permanently surplus to requirements (A002/5)
Declaring property permanently surplus to requirements (.doc format, 26 Kb)
When the Leader has approved the property as surplus to the council’s requirements, the Service Manager (Asset Management) should sign off the property as permanently surplus. See template above. A template copy of the email that is signed by the Service Manager (Asset Management), which officially declares the property surplus to the requirements of the council.
The form should include:
- Date declared surplus by the Cabinet Member responsible for the relevant service.
- Date declared permanently surplus to the council's requirements by the Leader of the council.
A copy of the approval should be sent to is relates to the Property & Finance Information & Support Team and K2 updated to record this information.
Partner organisations
Partner organisations should be advised that the county council no longer has a need for the site and that it is to be sold. This is to provide advance warning that the site will be coming to the market. An example email is attached, with partner details.
Notify consultant
The consultant should be notified that the process for declaring the property surplus to requirements has been completed. Refer to the template copy of the email to the consultant (.doc format, xxKb).
K2 should be updated to record this information.
Alternative OCC use
If there are no alternative council uses for the site, the Service Manager Asset Management will declare the site permanently surplus to requirements and the disposal can proceed in accordance with the above procedure. If, however, there are one or more requirements for the site, a timetable should be agreed with the service making the request for the presentation of a strategic business case to the relevant decision making group (currently the Capital Investment Board or Capital & Asset Programme Board).
Further details
Further details can be obtained from:
Strategy Team
Property & Facilities
Environment & Economy
Tel: 01865 810427
Email: sam.team@oxfordshire.gov.uk