Public Land and Building Assets

<p><em>Land and building assets as defined in the Code include:</em></p> <ul> <li><em>all service and office properties occupied or controlled by local authorities, both freehold and leasehold, in this case Colchester Borough Council</em></li> <li><em>any properties occupied or run under Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts</em></li> <li><em>all other properties local authorities own or use, for example, hostels, laboratories, investment properties and depots</em></li> <li><em>garages unless rented as part of a housing tenancy agreement</em></li> <li><em>surplus, sublet or vacant properties owned by local authorities</em></li> <li><em>undeveloped land</em></li> <li><em>serviced or temporary offices where contractual or actual occupation exceeds 3 months</em></li> <li><em>all future authority commitments, for example under an agreement for lease, from when a contractual commitment is made</em></li> </ul> <p><em>Properties must also be included even if they are part of a larger estate (for instance, a school caretakers property on the site of a school, or a residential property on the site of a farm).</em></p> <p><em>Any land or building where the council has currently a property interest should be included. This could include, for example, playing fields or buildings of church run schools.</em></p> <p><em>There are some exclusions as stated in the code:</em></p> <ul> <li><em>social housing</em></li> <li><em>rent-free properties provided by traders (such as information booths in public places or posts)</em></li> <li><em>operational railways and canals</em></li> <li><em>operational public highways (but any adjoining land not subject to public rights should be included)</em></li> <li><em>assets of national security</em></li> <li><em>information deemed inappropriate for public access as a result of data protection and/or disclosure controls (eg refuse houses)</em></li> </ul>