Update on NHSPS property costs for 2022/23 and 2023/24

Unprecedented inflationary pressures are continuing to impact the UK as a result of a range of global and national factors. This will affect your NHS Property Services (NHSPS) property costs for the remainder of 2022/23 as well as 2023/24.

The update below outlines any known increases your NHSPS property costs up to March 2024. Our cost transformation performance efforts will continue to mitigate, wherever possible, the inflationary impact on our costs.  

We know this continues to be a very challenging period for everyone and we’re here to support you. If you have any questions about your NHSPS property costs, our Customer Service team is available to help.

You can contact them via:

• Connect, our new online portal
• 0808 196 2045
• service@property.nhs.uk

Despite the wider inflationary pressures in the cost of supplying services, NHSPS has managed to mostly offset the in-year increases (excluding energy) through our Driving Value programme. This can be seen if you compare the year-to-date inflation increases of 14%(1), compared to the average 2% increases (excluding energy) included in our property budgets.

We therefore expect that the 2022/23 full year costs for facilities management (FM) and service charges (SC) (excluding energy) will be broadly aligned to the budgeted figures. Overall, we expect the net balancing charges for 2022/23 FM and SC to be, on average,1-2% of the full year FM and SC billing. This will vary on a property by property basis, and may be higher or lower. These balancing charges will be confirmed when the annual reconciliation for 2022/23 is completed in Q2 2023/24.

(1)UK RPI Rate, 2022. Accessed December 2022.

• Throughout 2022/23, we have seen continued price volatility due to global supply pressures and political responses to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This has created more uncertainty around energy prices across the board, and this has been heightened by the impact of the changes in energy use due to the weather.
• As a result of our energy brokerage strategy, we have been able to minimise the immediate impact of the energy price rise on our customers so far as shown in Table 1.
• We expect that there will continue to be further rises in energy prices over the remainder of the financial year which will be above the estimate outlined in your 2022/23 Annual Charging Schedules (ACSs), unless your lease agreement with us states otherwise.
• In Table 1, we’ve also outlined how much of the average increase has already been factored into your 2022/23 Annual Charging Schedule and the estimated additional average increase. The actual increase to your costs may be higher or lower depending on your usage and final market conditions. This increase is still below the price rises seen in the wider market, as referenced in Table 1.

(2) Percentage increase between March 2021 to October 2022. Ofgem, 2022. Accessed December 2022. 

• The estimated additional energy costs for 2022/23 will be charged on an actual cost basis as part of the annual reconciliation for 2022/23 as the quarterly bills for 2022/23 will only include the energy cost at budgeted rather than actual prices.
• The costs for Q3 and Q4 2022/23 are expected to remain below the energy price relief cap, however if the cap is triggered, this benefit will be passed on to customers.

• The impact of the energy price rises on the energy costs for your property will depend on your supplier and your lease agreement with us.
• If your property is not owned by NHSPS, we may hold a lease for the property instead and energy may be supplied by the superior landlord. In this case, NHSPS would pass the actual costs directly on to you when we complete the annual reconciliation for 2022/23 in Q2 2023/24.
• If this is the case, we encourage you to please contact our Customer Service Centre via Connect, our new online portal to find out more information. You can also call 0808 196 2045 or email customer.service@property.nhs.uk.
• If you manage your own energy supply, please contact your supplier directly for more information about the energy price increases and the impact on costs.

Despite the wider inflationary pressures for the 2023/24 financial year (currently expected at 8%-10% excluding energy and business rates), due to our continued focus on cost transformation we expect to see average increases of only 6%-8% on our 2023/24 property charges (excluding energy and business rates), compared to 2022/23.

Regarding business rates, we expect that there will be a significant increase in rates in 2023/24 as the current rating list cycle, set by the government, is due to come to an end. We expect to see increases ranging from 15% to 30% compared to 2022/23 levels. We will continue working with our rating consultant to mitigate these increases where possible.

• Unfortunately, the rates we secured that have minimised energy costs over the last three years will come to an end in April 2023, and we will be more exposed to market rates. As a result, we anticipate that energy costs will be significantly higher than current rates in the next financial year and beyond.
• We have extended our contract including the flexible trading strategy managed by our energy broker. This is so that we can react quickly to take advantage of any changes in the market.
• Table 2 outlines the estimated average increases for energy prices during 2023/24 compared to the 2022/23 budget, however this may be higher or lower depending on your energy use and final market conditions.
• We'll continue to issue further updates once we know more about the impact for 2023/24.

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