Council offers empty office space to others to rent

Uttlesford District Council said more staff are working from home or other offices

A council is renting out unused office space as it claims less space is needed because more staff are working from home.

Uttlesford District Council in Saffron Walden, Essex, is offering a third of its headquarters on London Road.

Businesses and organisations using the space include landscape gardeners, interior designers, chartered surveyors,  charities and Essex Police.

According to Local Democracy Reporting Service, the authority said it was "making best use of council taxpayers’ money".

It added that more council staff who do not want to travel far to work have started to work from other sites such a the depot in Little Canfield and office space in Stansted Mountfitchet.

A spokesman for Uttlesford Council said: "As a result, less of the space in the council headquarters building is needed, so of course, we are making best use of council taxpayers’ money by renting out different offices to local small businesses

"Their requirement still leaves more office space available to let and in total approximately one-third of the building is available to rent; the spaces available range from 150 to 3,200 square feet."