Angus Council HQ could be sold off in money saving bid

The local authority has unveiled plans to market Angus House at Orchardbank Business Park for part lease, full lease or sale for a period of 18 months.

Most of the building space is currently unused, the local authority says, due to the rise in employees working from home following the Covid pandemic.

Councillors will be asked to approve plans to put Angus House on the market at a full council meeting scheduled for Thursday.

The council’s ‘Agile’ programme – which provides Angus Council staff with the ability to work from home or at other venues – has left much of the HQ capacity unused.

And the council says this could harm their ability to make financial and carbon savings in the future.

It currently costs the local authority more than £400,000 a year to run Angus House.

The Agile programme has delivered £3.6m of recurring revenue savings since it was started in 2015. It has also generated £1.3m in property sales.

The scheme has also seen the council shrink its estate by 32 properties – which have either been returned to town common goods, been leased out, made subject to a successful community asset transfer, or sold off.

Chief Executive Kathryn Lindsay said, “Twenty years ago when the building of Angus House was approved, no one could have foreseen the changes to working practices that technology has enabled and that were further embedded during the Covid-19 pandemic period.

“We are committed to finding the best approach going forward, considering how best to support colleagues in their delivery of services to the public while promoting the effective utilisation of office space and council resources.

“This marketing exercise will give us important data to inform the ongoing assessment of the potential options for further rationalisation of our estate and in turn support councillors in their decision making.”