G2 Leasing Office Premises and Domestic Housing Overseas

Background

Before reading DFID’s rules, you must read and understand the Government Spending Controls published on the Cabinet Office website (see link under Processes and Tools section below).

DFID's overseas estate and property portfolio represents a significant commitment of public funds. It is important that DFID's interests are safeguarded by properly drafted and legally sound lease arrangements. Responsibility for this lies with the Head of Overseas Office.

Compliance Tasks:

1. DFID must consider sharing/using HMG Partner's existing office and domestic accommodation before entering any new lease agreements.

Any new lease agreements must ensure the properties fit into a joint HMG estates strategy where the estate is adaptable to changing demands of the environment within which it operates,  and provides value for money.

Task assigned to: Estate Management Officer, Head of Overseas Office

2. Heads of Overseas Offices must ensure that there is clear and appropriate definition and segregation of responsibility for negotiation and authorisation of all leases.

Records of negotiation and approval must be recorded in Quest. Local arrangements should be handled by Local Contract Officers (LCOs). Any lease with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) must be subject to the FCO Service Level Agreement (SLA).
Task assigned to: Head of Department, Office Manager

3. Legal title to the premises must be established before a lease is signed. A local property adviser must be used to establish that the person leasing is the legal owner of the property.
Task assigned to: Estate Management Officer, Head of Department, Head of Overseas Office, Office Manager

4. All leases should be in English wherever possible. If, due to local legislation, the lease is required to be in a different language, a translation into English should be obtained from a legal translator, and be signed at the same time. (Note, that in the case of dispute the non-English version is likely to take precedence).
Task assigned to: Estate Management Officer, Head of Department, Head of Overseas Office, Office Manager

5. Leases will be subject to local law and must be cleared by a local property legal adviser, and registered if required under local law.
Task assigned to: Head of Department, Office Manager

6. Office and Estate Management staff in overseas offices must be conversant with lease requirements for all property under their control.
Task assigned to: Estate Management Officer, Office Manager

7. Signed original leases must be kept securely and a scanned copy stored in Quest.
Task assigned to: Office Manager

8. Leases must be recorded on the Resource Account Year End Pack.
Task assigned to: Head of Department, Office Manager

Risks of non-compliance

• Mis-appropriation of public funds
• Collusion and fraud
• No legal status in event of a dispute.
• HMG does not effectively use its global estate, leading to waste