Published date: 24 May 2022
Facilitating an office lease exit and relocation, saving the NHS £100,000 per annum
Milton Park and Jubilee House, Oxfordshire
Background
Site: Milton Park, a commercial office building in Oxfordshire
Customers: South Central West Commissioning Support Unit
NHSPS representatives: Zoe Thomson (National Office Programme), Will Stanyard (Lease Events) and Susan Dougall (Property Management)
Customer feedback
"This project reflects the great on hands support through such tight timeframes we had from you and your national programme colleagues. Thank you again."
Andy Simpson, Corporate Governance and Estates Lead, NHS South, Central and West
Challenge
Upon approaching the landlord about a possible lease extension at Milton Park, we were informed by the landlord that they wished to retain the building upon lease expiry in order to repurpose the property with the aim of re-letting at a higher rental rate. Given NHSPS' existing lease fell outside the Landlord and Tenant 1954 Act, there was no other option but to exit the building at lease expiry, which resulted in working to a very tight deadline in order to vacate the property by this date (i.e., one month).
Within this timeframe, representatives from NHSPS’s Property Management and National Office Programme needed to ensure the occupier had exited the building, a dilapidations survey was undertaken and alternative accommodation identified for our CSU occupier.
Solution
Multiple NHSPS teams spanning Property Management, Facilities Management, and National Office Programme worked with our CSU customer to prepare for the lease exit. In doing this, we successfully decanted the building within the one month deadline and arranged for a dilapidations survey to be undertaken at short notice. We agreed a dilapidations settlement with the landlord of £29,000, representing good value and precedent for the NHS.
We also found alternative accommodation at nearby Jubilee House in Oxford Business Centre, which was already occupied by the CSU and other NHS occupiers, this enabled a smooth transition from Milton Park and no additional cost incurred for the CSU / NHS.
Result
The CSU successfully exited the building by the lease expiry date (April 2022) and relocated to a nearby office which formed part of their existing estate.
Relinquishing Milton Park (a commercial building) - which was also underutilised and of great cost to the NHS - helps create a more cost-effective and efficient NHS estate. In addition to this, relocating the CSU to a building where other NHS occupiers also have office accommodation promotes partnership working and collaboration which is a key area of focus for the future Integrated Care System in the area.
This move will save the NHS circa £102,500 per annum, as well as the dilapidations income.
The project has significantly strengthened the relationship between NHSPS and the CSU, and we're looking forward to working more with them in future.
