The delivery of local government services has been revolutionised. More and more are provided by third party organisations or with local government working in partnership with the private or voluntary sectors.

At the same time local government is realising that it can make better use of its assets – potentially its land and buildings could be available for uses of various kinds 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.

A report from RICS, written by Ginny Gibson and Nick French of Reading University was launched on 24 June 2002, looking at the implications for property of these changes.

Chartered surveyors working in the sector are looking for solutions to property problems that can be presented to chief executives, service heads and councillors.

Property should not be taken for granted and continue to be a hidden asset, but needs to be thought of as a platform for better service delivery. This report guides members towards some possible solutions.

Whose property is it anyway? A review of the use of local authority property by third parties is available to download from the PDF Downloads section.