Using radical change to unlock opportunities for portfolio transformation in local government

Economic constraint usually results in pressure on real estate costs, but this pressure can be exerted in different ways and lead to different outcomes. This paper provides a detailed case study of North Somerset Council's journey through three economically led stages of property management, emerging with a transformed portfolio. The first stage is that of complacent growth or business as usual: headcount and organisational initiatives proliferate and business leadership is focused on delivery, with property being a low priority. The second stage is that of challenge: increasing costs become a problem, therefore property becomes a target for savings and increased control, and a focus for asset management. The third stage is a transformed approach: property becomes a facilitator of business restructuring, closely integrated with local and business objectives and with the potential to generate income. This paper analyses how North Somerset Council came to deliver radically improved asset performance. The process depends on organisational readiness and is very much a product of increasing economic and political pressure. When this pressure becomes intense, a radical change in the approach to asset management is possible if the groundwork is in place and if the property team is able to lead decisively.