A National Audit Office (NAO) report criticised the Foreign Office’s use of its £1.6bn overseas property estate. The report said that more than half of the Foreign Office’s properties abroad had unused office space or staff accommodation.

Empty office space

Source: Shutterstock / Piotr Zajda

The NAO also criticised the strategy for being thin on detail and for having allowed projects to go over budget by £57m since 2002.

Last month, Property Week revealed that the government was considering slashing its office footprint by “at least 25%” on the back of surveys conducted with civil servants on hybrid working.

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