The delivery challenge
University estates and facilities teams must balance a range of priorities in an increasingly complex operating environment driven by cost, legacy, expectation and rescaled ambitions.
Navigating estate complexities
Rising operating costs
Managing a university estate has always been challenging - but it is also becoming more expensive. The AUDE 2024 Estates Management Report highlighted that property operating costs have risen by 35% in the last two years alone.
Increased cost are also set against a backdrop of inflation and a fall in real-term value of tuition fees. With many universities looking at every option to cut costs, capital investments in the estate often become the focus of attention.
Managing and maintaining legacy assets
If investment in new assets is off the table for now, existing assets are not without their problems. Heritage is often an influential student recruitment tool - but the necessary maintenance and upgrades can also make legacy assets an expensive obstacle in the path towards estate optimisation.
The construction boom in Higher Education that flowed from the Robbins Review in the '60's, presents different legacy issues. These buildings are now at the end of their life but the issues inherent in their fabric and design make them challenging and costly to refurbish. In both cases, as many universities start the transition to clean energy supplies - some are discovering that not all of the estate can support net zero.
Changing expectations
The post-pandemic student has different priorities. A demand for social spaces - and digital accessibility on tap - presents estates teams with a growing need to prioritise campus connectivity. Hybrid work patterns and changes in learning delivery have also shifted the way space is utilised and optimised - flexible facilities that scale for size and adapt for efficiency are becoming more prevalent.
Drivers of change
The post-pandemic higher education sector is a significantly different place in terms of how its built environment is planned and managed. Estate teams need to facilitate growth, improve space efficiency and maintain legacy assets but with reduced budgets. And, despite recent Government interventions to raise the level of tuition fees for the first time in eight years, there is still significant unpredictability about what lies ahead.
External forces
- Sustainability and ESG goals
- Compliance
- Competition for students
- Funding model in need of reform
Internal forces
- Staff and student experience
- Limited budgets
- Ageing assets
- Competing institutional priorities
- Complex governance
Sector trends
- Variable student recruitment trends
- Funding unpredictability
- Changing student expectations
- Civic and community engagement
Aspirations and considerations
The estate team is responsible for responding to the university's strategy for dealing with these drivers of change, mapping it onto the estate to develop a delivery plan that recognises the specific complexities of the assets involved. A challenging task in itself that also needs to consider other factors.
Key considerations:
- Do we have the in-house skills and resources to manage the programme?
- What is an achievable delivery programme?
- Does it align with Governance Board expectations?
- Does it align with available funding and cashflow constraints?
- What are the project dependencies?
- Where do programmes / projects interface and what are the risks?
- How can disruption be mitigated and the student experience maintained?
- How do governance processes map onto the delivery programme?
- What efficiencies can be gained through effective procurement?
- What are the programme / project priorities to enable a planned response to any change in Institutional goals?
