Writing for Planning, Building & Construction Today, Katy, Preconstruction Director at Seddon Property Services, set out how trusts can prepare for the handback of their healthcare estates. According to the Institute for Government, there are more than 700 public-private partnership agreements across the UK, worth around £57bn in total. Many of these will expire and return to public ownership over the next two decades.
Katy warned that trusts waiting until the final years of a contract will have little room to influence the outcome. Instead, she recommends starting early with detailed condition surveys, compliance audits and data-led planning. Handback should be treated as a long-term programme that brings together technical, commercial and operational considerations from the start, with clear accountability.
Katy Harris, Preconstruction Director at Seddon Property Services, said: “PFI expiry is far more than the end of a contract and represents the start of a new chapter for NHS estates. Handback planning is not a tick-box exercise.”
Drawing on Seddon’s preconstruction expertise, Katy highlighted the importance of early engagement and collaboration between estates teams, clinicians and delivery partners. This is particularly important because surveys and remedial works must be carried out in live clinical settings, where patient safety and infection control come first.
The article also points to the chance to support the NHS’s commitment to net zero. Including energy and carbon analysis in early audits means remedial works can be aligned with decarbonisation, avoiding duplication and disruption later on.
With many PFI buildings designed around older models of care, Katy encourages trusts to rethink how space is used, so their estates can adapt to new technology, changing demand and patient expectations.
Trusts that approach PFI expiry as a compliance exercise will fulfil their obligations. Those that take a strategic, long-term view can create safer, more efficient and future-ready healthcare environments.
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