SURREY County Council has “paused” investing in property out of the county and instead is focusing on selling-off or reusing empty buildings it already owns.

The county council will be bucking the trend of local authorities which are buying up office blocks and retail parks miles away from where residents live or in their own boroughs.

It already has a portfolio of 29 offices, retail parks and hotels in and out of the county valued at £425 million but now the council leader says they are going to look at how to make “better use” of buildings in the county.

A review is under way to look at how to reduce its operational estate – not including schools – from 300 buildings to 100 and what to do with those that are deemed surplus to requirements.

It is hoped this will have a cost saving of £10m by 2024 and generate additional revenue income as well as £150m capital receipts in the next five years.

SCC owns a broad range of land and property in Surrey totalling around £1.5bn.

There are over 700 operational assets – such as offices, depots, libraries, fire stations – with just over 400 being schools.

And there are around 1,200 non-operational assets in its portfolio. This includes houses, green spaces, car parks and business centres which are either leased or rented out to other users.

Surrey’s wholly-owned group Halsey Garton Group owns 29 assets valued in March 2018 at £425m with a net return in 2018-19 expected to be £4.8m.

This includes assets out of the county as well as in Surrey.

County Hall in Kingston will be sold off as Surrey looks for a new headquarters in either Guildford or Woking.

Pausing on investing out of the county is a different move to boroughs and districts which are buying up offices and retail parks in other areas.

Since 2017, Waverley Borough Council has spent £10 million of council funds on four commercial properties in Farnham and Godalming.

This pales in comparison to neighbouring East Hampshire District Council, however, which has in the same period invested £112 million in 27 properties – some as far afield as Northampton, Gloucestershire and Warwick.