Local authorities have faced long-standing pressure to dispose of heritage assets that are not supporting core service objectives or making an adequate return on investment, and in the current financial climate the need to make the most efficient and effective use of assets and ‘cash in’ on property surplus to requirements is ever more acute . With maintenance and refurbishment costs generally higher and disposal costs lower, the management and disposal of heritage assets poses particular challenges when resources are in short supply. Although re-using heritage assets can minimise construction waste, reduce our carbon footprint, encourage a vibrant local economy and reinforce a sense of place and civic pride, if a narrow asset management perspective is taken heritage assets can come to be regarded as liabilities and obstacles to development rather than the community assets they are and should continue to be.

As stewards of the historic environment, local authorities will be judged on the way they deal with any heritage asset they own and should set good examples in finding solutions to protect and conserve these assets for the benefit of the local community now and in the future. However, for a number of years concern has been expressed by many heritage interest groups that local authorities throughout the United Kingdom are not safeguarding the heritage assets they own well enough. Too often local authorities take decisions to dispose of these assets to new owners/leaseholders without due consideration of the building’s worth and utility, or taking steps to sustain their future by minimising the risk of inappropriate development or even destruction. There have been many instances of disposal by a local authority of a heritage asset to a buyer with impractical expectations of its development potential, despite realistic planning advice or the buyer’s capacity to manage the project. This has led to the rapid deterioration of the asset and in some cases further financial implications for the local authority through issuing urgent works and other notices and, in some cases compulsorily acquiring the building back into the local authority’s ownership.

A comprehensive report by the National Trust in 2006 found that local authorities’ success in safeguarding the heritage interests of their heritage asset stock was variable across the United Kingdom.Where heritage assets have been disposed of the overwhelming reason was that local authorities lacked the resources to maintain them, particularly when the property had deteriorated and needed capital investment. If the heritage asset had a positive economic value, councils faced pressure to recoup the highest market price from such sales and also placed an over-reliance on the planning system to ensure that the building was converted to an acceptable use. They made only limited use of their discretionary power to make disposals at less than the open market value less than best consideration where it could improve the economic, social or environmental wellbeing of its area.

This toolkit provides local authorities with a series of steps to consider when managing heritage assets and when bringing them forward for disposal. The toolkit provides local authorities with exemplar case studies which illustrate how local authorities across the UK have successfully delivered sustainable outcomes by pursuing pro-active and imaginative approaches towards asset management and disposal practices. By embedding sustainability into local authority decision making processes local authorities can achieve greater financial cost savings in the long-term as well as strengthening links with their community.

Although written primarily for use by local authorities the guidance in this toolkit can be widely implemented by other statutory bodies who own and maintain large property portfolios and often bring assets forward for disposal on the open market.