Working from home: NI Civil Service to cut office estate by 40%

Both the Department for Infrastructure and the Department of Economy are selling their former HQs

The Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) is to shrink its office estate by 40% over the next four years, a senior official has told MLAs.

The process has already started with the Department for Infrastructure's headquarters being put up for sale.

Other buildings on the market include the former HQ for the Department for the Economy in east Belfast.

The move reflects changing working patterns since the pandemic as more people work-from-home.

Sharon Smyth, Chief Executive of Construction and Procurement Delivery, said an office estate review began in 2021 and a plan was signed off in 2022.

She said that a hybrid working policy means office usage will not recover to pre-pandemic levels and there was "a responsibility to maximise our estate."

She said more buildings will be going up for sale soon.

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The reduction in the number of buildings does not include the 33 Jobs and Benefits offices which are operated by the Department for Communities.

The Department for Infrastructure is moving its headquarters into the city's Gasworks business park later this year.

Its existing large office building is being advertised as having "repurposing and redevelopment potential".

Some staff from the Department of Agriculture have already relocated from Dundonald House on the Stormont estate to the Department of Finance's HQ at Clare House.