Schools in England have surplus land 鈥渢he size of central London鈥� that could be used for housing and community spaces, a director of the Department for Education鈥檚 property company has said. Matt Robertson, associate director of property at LocatED, also told a event this morning the roofs of schools could be used for solar panels and car parks for electric vehicle charging outside of school hours. Selling off surplus school land for housing is nothing new, but LocatEd was tasked in 2019 with ramping up efforts as part of a pilot scheme. Robertson said over 22,000 schools sat on land of around 125,000 acres, which was more than the amount of land advised in government 鈥渂uilding bulletin鈥� rules. 鈥淥ver the total school estate, the approximate amount which is surplus鈥s pretty much the size of central London,鈥� he said, adding that surplus land held 鈥渁 great deal of potential鈥�. It can generate income for schools, provide housing and 鈥渘ew community spaces and facilities鈥�, he added. Capital funding generated from the sale of land 鈥渃an be used to address existing condition need, but it can also facilitate any essential works to ensure the longer-term performance of the school estate鈥�. 鈥淭hat capital can also be used to be invested in sustainable technology, addressing ways to reduce running costs. All very topical at the moment. But investing capital into these existing buildings, which are less efficient, can be a real operational gain for the school.鈥� Solar panels and EV charging in car parks But selling off land for housing isn鈥檛 the only way of making the estate more efficient, Robertson said. He showed an example of a 1960s flat-roofed primary school, where a 拢30,000 investment in solar panels covering 10 per cent of the roof would result in a 拢6,000 annual reduction in the school鈥檚 拢21,000 energy costs. A larger investment, covering the whole roof, would create surplus power, which could be provided to nearby housing or businesses through a private wire agreement. But the over-generation 鈥渁lso leads to other opportunities with electric vehicle charging鈥�, Robertson said. 鈥淭he school car park is typically used during the day by teachers, by staff, by visitors. There are other opportunities there to provide evening parking for electric vehicle charging.鈥� He also pointed to LocatEd鈥檚 鈥渂uilding up agenda鈥� in urban areas, giving the example of St James Hatcham, a primary school in London which currently stands at one-storey high. The school would 鈥渞eally benefit from around 拢500,000 being spent on it as a minimum鈥�, he said. 鈥淪o, in a project with multiple stakeholders in an inflationary world with no money, we asked the question: can we build a brand new, excellent education facility, improve outdoor facilities and do so without costing the taxpayer a single penny? And the answer is yes.鈥� A proposal in the pre-planning stage would deliver 100 homes and a new school building. But he warned viability of such schemes was 鈥渞eally tough at the moment鈥�, with the cost of the school elements of the building alone having increased by 30 per cent since April. 鈥淏ut if we can end up with a school and mixed use facility鈥t’ll be a great news story. Bringing together lots of stakeholders the local authority, the diocese, the governing body, the Department of Education, the GLA there’s more, but that’s one of the agendas we’re currently working on.鈥�