Effective property planning and management ensures resources are efficiently allocated in a manner that clearly supports the agency’s targeted outcomes.
Government expects its property portfolio to be centrally co-ordinated as a collective of agency-managed portfolios. Agency property plans provide key information to inform GPG’s activities and enable coordination of the overall government property portfolio.
Taking a medium-term view in property planning helps agencies make best use of limited resources to achieve targeted outcomes, helps position agencies well to respond to challenges and changes, and assists the organisation and responsible minister/s to make informed investment decisions. Collectively across the government property portfolio, property planning will support the delivery of government priorities and ultimately benefit all New Zealanders.
The long-term view is equally important. It will ensure investment in property, leases and fit-out is aligned with the organisational strategy, and opportunities to work in a joined-up manner with other agencies are captured.
High quality property planning helps:
Sometimes property investments also support sector outcomes. Collaboration between sector agencies during property planning and management can support increased efficiency and effectiveness, improved service delivery and business continuity, and increased agency capability and capacity.
Property planning is valuable to a range of stakeholders, including the agency owning the plan, other government agencies, ministers, and the Corporate Centre (State Services Commission, The Treasury, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and Functional Leads for Procurement, Property and ICT).
Property planning provides the agency a view of:
For investment-intensive agencies – as defined and described in Cabinet office circular CO (19) 6 – their property plan will also align with and provide a more detailed view expanding on the property-related investments highlighted in their long term investment plan (LTIP).
Integrating property planning with organisational planning enables the agency’s property function to organise its activity on a sustainable basis, prioritising funding on activities that support agency outcomes. It also enables the agency to respond to challenges and changes in circumstances more effectively which helps their minister support and make informed decisions in the short to medium-term, within the context of the agency’s long-term strategic intentions.
When shared, property plans inform and provide a view that can allow other agencies to identify commonalities or opportunities to work together and potentially achieve efficiencies and improved outcomes.
Property planning collectively provides GPG with a portfolio view of agency intentions. GPG can identify opportunities between agencies that might not have been visible without this portfolio-wide view.
This view can inform a range of processes including accommodation project planning, portfolio strategy, and common capability opportunities.
Property plans are also one of the functional planning inputs to inform investment-intensive agencies' LTIPs and medium-term planning such as Four-year Plans, which GPG has a role in supporting and reviewing.
As outlined in Cabinet minutes (CAB Min (11) 14/14, CAB Min (12) 35/4B, SEC Min (14) 5/2), agencies must develop property plans that adhere to the principles, standards and strategies established by the Property Functional Leadership. GPG recommends that property plans are reviewed and refreshed by the agency biennial, or at least once every two years.
GPG provides the following guidance for property plans, depending on the complexity of your agency’s portfolio:
GPG will review and approve draft plans prior to final approval by the relevant chief executive or Board as appropriate.
Email us if you would like to discuss property portfolio planning.