Britain’s biggest police force, the Metropolitan police, has sold off almost £1bn-worth of London property over the past five years in a battle to make multi-million pound savings.

The figures, released as the Queen officially opened the new Met headquarters on Victoria Embankment in central London, reveal that hundreds of flats, buildings, stations and offices have been sold by the force since 2012-13.

The Met commissioner, Cressida Dick, has said officers have been stretched following recent terror attacks and a rise in violent crime.



The most lucrative deal was the sale of New Scotland Yard in 2016, which was went for £370m to investors from Abu Dhabi for luxury flats.

Among the 24 police stations that have been shut down and sold is Chelsea police station, which fetched £40m in 2015.



Overall, 67 operational units were sold, along with 20 residential blocks and 84 residential units, according to figures released to the Press Association under freedom of information laws.



The sales have softened the blow of large cuts to the Met’s budget triggered by decisions by the coalition and Conservative governments to cut and then restrict police funding.

Scotland Yard has had to make £600m of savings since 2010 but was able to maintain frontline officers at the 31,000 level. However, the force now says that it is under even greater pressure as it has another £400m in savings to find by 2020.

The figures show the 20 blocks of flats were sold for a total of £111.5m, with Kilmuir House in Belgravia fetching £45m in 2016.



The most expensive single residential property was a flat in Sailmakers Court, Fulham, which went for £1.4m in 2012.

While the government says it is no longer cutting the Met budget, it is not increasing it, meaning the force has to absorb other costs which are rising.



Critics say protecting crucial police services by selling buildings may not help the Met in the long run, as it has now sold the best of what it had.

London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, has said that more police stations could close and that the Met was trying to find new ways to carry out its duties, saving money while minimising any damage to the service it provided.

The Queen is directed by the Met police commissioner, Cressida Dick, at the official opening of the force’s new HQ on 13 July. Photograph: Jo Davidson/SHM/Rex/Shutterstock

The new HQ, which will house 600 staff, is smaller than the Scotland Yard building in nearby St James’s. One reason to move out of the former HQ, apart from raising money, was that the building needed extensive refurbishment requiring a budget of tens of millions of pounds.

Responding to the findings, the Met police said the sales meant more resources were “available for effective and accessible policing” and that money would be invested in updating remaining buildings and improving IT services.



A spokeswoman said: “Selling property that does not meet the required standard to support our frontline policing teams results in more resources being available for effective and accessible policing, such as our network of dedicated ward officers.

“The money from sales and what would have been spent on keeping buildings running is also invested in servicing the changing way Londoners want to contact the police through digital channels, updating our remaining buildings and providing the best possible IT, so we can deliver a modern police service fit for the 21st century.

“The Metropolitan police service has a duty to provide the best value for Londoners and make sure all its resources are delivering the best possible policing services.”



Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said he was pleased that a fund had been created “to go to good use” but questioned where the police would be without the money from the sale of buildings. He added: “The government seems to be doing it on the cheap. Without this, we’d be relying on criminals’ money to fund the police.”

According to the figures, the 10 most expensive sales in the period covered are:

