Property Services Directorate

About Property Services Directorate (PSD)

Our PSD maintains the Met's property estate. It invests more than £150million revenue each year so our officers and staff can deliver operational policing services. In addition, the PSD delivers an annual capital programme in excess of £100million for major maintenance and improvement works across the estate.  

The PSD currently employs more than 130 staff. This includes students, managerial and support staff, and technical and specialist professional staff. PSD staff work within a progressive, supportive environment which gives them a range of opportunities for further career and professional development.

The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) provides the estate to support operational policing. This consists of more than 267 properties including:

• police stations, safer neighbourhood bases and dedicated ward offices
• deployment and patrol bases
• headquarters (administrative and operational)
• training facilities (operational and recruit focussed)
• marine maintenance and support facilities
• aviation maintenance and support facilities
• horse stabling facilities and dog training establishments
• residential accommodation including flats, houses and section house accommodation

PSD has developed and delivers services that align to a formal estate strategy. The strategy’s primary focus for delivery includes:

• reducing the running cost of the retained estate to support the objective of reducing back office costs
• intensifying and enhancing the use of the retained estate to support hybrid working
• maximising the value of released assets for reinvestment in the capital programme, to support operational needs
• investing in and improving the quality of accommodation of the retained estate to support operational need

Our departments

Within PSD, services are delivered through four primary departments:

• Real Estate Development (RED)
• Real Estate Management (REM)
• Operational Support Group (OSG)
• Engagement

Real Estate Development (RED)

RED is responsible for the delivery of major and minor works projects with recent developments in excess of £70million. Key responsibilities include construction, refurbishment and maintenance projects. In addition to the delivery of the capital programme, RED is responsible for

• estate security (pan-Met physical and electronic security, design services and policy)
• engineering and resilience (pan-Met, design services, advice and projects)
• design standards (pan-Met)

Exciting, recently-delivered projects include an £18million project to facilitate delivery of the new Counter Terrorism Headquarters (CTOC) and £6million to create a ‘Skills House’ delivering enhanced firearms training for specialist officers.

£3.6million is being invested to refurbish Wembley Police Station and £1.2million at Chadwell Heath improving facilities for frontline policing. £9million will be spent on energy efficiency measures, whilst £25million is due to be invested in new CCTV systems.

Lifecycle maintenance projects (around 500 to 600 projects per annum) will ensure the Met maintains a compliant estate and ‘facelift’ projects (around 15 to 20 projects per annum) to improve the quality of accommodation for officers and staff.

Real Estate Management (REM)

REM is responsible for managing the estate including:

• facilities management: hard and soft reactive and planned FM
• property: health and safety and compliance
• technical expertise: health and safety, public health, fire and asbestos management
• building management at core strategic properties
• environment and sustainability
• carbon management
• utilities​ procurement and management
• estates, asset management (commercial and residential) and PFI (Private Finance Initiative)

Operational Support Group (OSG)

OSG provides logistical, engineering and surveying services in direct support of front-line activities, major incidents and ceremonial events on a 24 hours a day, seven days a week basis.

Two specialist teams and a diverse supply chain are dedicated to delivering survey and building related operational support for:

• crime scene management
• major search operations
• evidential data capture
• contingency planning
• physical protection measures

Within OSG sits four sub-departments:

Special Events and Operations provides essential operational and public safety support for both pre-planned events and reactive operations at scenes of crime and major incidents, including:

• evidence preservation measures (crime scene tents, search equipment, screening, weather protection)
• safe access and egress equipment (scaffolding, trackway, structural works)
• temporary accommodation, welfare facilities, power and lighting
• public order logistics (crowd control barriers, traffic management, matrix signs)
• physical protection logistics (vehicle barriers, target hardening, specialist facilities)

The Computer Aided Modelling Bureau (CAMB) uses the latest geomatics technology and CAD software to carry out precise laser scanning for land and measured building surveys at scenes of crime. The bureau recreates these as 2D plans and 3D models to assist police investigations and cases going to court.

They use the latest software and hardware to support investigation teams and forensic experts with high definition spatial data and geographical information.

The Building Information Management (BIM) team maintains hundreds of CAD floor plans and spatial information for buildings across the Met estate. It sets the specification and quality assurance requirements for all BIM model data provided on construction and refurbishment projects.

Digital Real Estate (DRE) manages and maintain the property department’s technology solution landscape. It ensures fit for purpose line of business applications, solutions infrastructure, data assurance, integration, and analytics.

DRE provides the estate and space management information platforms, including specialist GIS and BIM systems. It oversees statutory estate data management and governance requirements.

Engagement

Engagement is responsible for the delivery of:

• senior management and police officer relationship management
• real estate strategy
• relocation projects within the estate

Why you should join us

If you join our our directorate, you'll get to:

• be a part of an inclusive and exciting place to work that provides and promotes development opportunities
• develop yourself professionally, working with and alongside fellow professionals on a wide variety of projects and with stakeholders at all levels, all focussed on the delivery of excellence in public service
• foster healthy and diverse supply chains, engaging effectively with suppliers and partners to create value, access innovation and manage risk appropriately
• promote a professional culture across the Met and MOPAC (Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime), and provide all Met employees with the resources and skills
• participate, support and lead or be part of making London the safest global city in a time of unprecedented change within the UK's largest police service