The City Surveyor's department has reported an underspend of £825,000 for its City Fund and City's Estate services for the financial year 2025/26. This underspend is comprised of £337,000 for City Fund and £415,000 for City's Estate, with an additional £73,000 for Guildhall Administration. The department is currently assessing its progress against 24 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), 16 of which are overseen by the Investment Committee.
By the end of the fourth quarter of the financial year, 8 of these 16 KPIs had met their targets, with two rated amber and one red. The department's overall financial outturn showed an underspend of £1.351 million against a total budget of £34.5 million.
The underspend is primarily attributed to lower professional fees, savings from deferred or cancelled repair projects, and income at Smithfield Market from a historic rebate and additional filming and car parking revenue. These savings were partially offset by increased reactive repairs and lower service charge recovery.
A budget carry-forward request of £724,000 has been submitted for essential refurbishment and upgrade works.
The red-rated KPI, Minimise Arrears,
stood at 4.60% against a target of less than 2%. This increase is mainly due to annual insurance charges invoiced in December. The department is working closely with the rent collection team and the City Solicitor's department to expedite the recovery of late payments, which includes the agreement of payment plans and pursuing formal action where necessary. However, a projected timeline for improvement on this KPI has not been provided.
Amber-rated KPIs included Adherence to Budgetary Spend Profiles
for Walbrook and the Central Criminal Court, and CWP Programme Adherence to Budgetary Spend Profiles.
The amber rating for Walbrook and the Central Criminal Court reflects the effective application of budget management controls.
For the CWP Programme, the amber rating is due to Delivery exceeded the initial forecast as priority projects and workstreams were brought forward to align with site operational windows. This has increased Year 2 delivery, reduced delivery saturation pressure on later years of the programme and the programme remains on track.
The KPI for Achieve Budgeted Rental Forecasts
was also amber, with actual income at £99.03 million against a target of £101.1 million. This variance was due to the earlier finalisation of property sales, primarily in December 2025, which resulted in rental income being lower than originally forecast at the start of the year. The specific impact on future rental income forecasts has not been quantified.
Further details on the budget monitoring statement for Quarter 4 2025/26 can be found in the Public reports pack.
