As councils prepare for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), attention is increasingly shifting from organisational structures to the practical foundations of the new authorities being created. Crucially this includes the combined public estate – a diverse mix of assets spanning — operational estate (offices, depots, schools), community assets, income-generating assets, infrastructure and specialist facilities such as waste, transport and crematoria.
Land and buildings are not simply operational resources. They are the physical infrastructure, the ‘building blocks’ and foundations through which councils deliver services across all functions – from housing and offices to education, leisure, waste, transport and specialist provision. Managed strategically, they can support financial sustainability, regeneration and housing delivery and provide opportunities to leverage investment or generate income.
At 31ten and Vestega, we work together to help councils unlock this opportunity by combining strategic advisory expertise with powerful property intelligence tools.
Together, we support authorities to move from fragmented asset information and multiple legacy estates coming together, to clear evidence-based strategic decisions across the full estate. This includes decisions on what to retain, repurpose, invest in, dispose of or develop — and translate these into deliverable investment plans. We can work with you to complete a comprehensive review of assets, understand the estate and identify opportunities to rationalise the portfolio, release value, and better utilise assets to support wider service transformation and cost pressures.
In an LGR context, the challenge is not simply understanding assets — it is making difficult, cross-cutting decisions about how the whole estate should be configured to support future service delivery.
Complementary expertise
Our partnership brings together complementary capabilities, integrating strategic advisory and asset optimisation with advanced property intelligence. This provides the data and insight needed to inform, accelerate and optimise land and property decisions.
At 31ten, we support local authorities across the UK to translate strategic priorities into clear investment decisions and deliverable programmes. For assets, this includes:
- Strategic asset and estate strategies
- Service and estate alignment analysis
- Options appraisal and investment prioritisation
- Capital programme development
- Green Book-aligned business cases
- Governance and decision frameworks
- Cross-portfolio asset optimisation and service trade-offs (e.g. education, waste, community, corporate estate)
We help councils move beyond managing buildings individually towards a fully integrated strategic estate, ensuring assets support service transformation, financial sustainability and place-based outcomes.
