Westminster property expert Robert Heskett is the first property industry name to join John McCready at the government’s new property unit.

Heskett was head of London asset management at Land Securities and is this month due to start work at the unit, which manages the government’s £370bn property portfolio.

The property unit is part of the Shareholder Executive, which is the arm of government department for Business, Innovation and Skills that manages the government’s stakes in private sector companies.

An official announcement cannot be made until after 6 May because of general election rules, and the unit said neither it nor Heskett could comment before then.

Heskett has significant experience of working in Victoria and Whitehall during more than 30 years at Land Securities. In early 2008, Heskett left LandSecs to become a non-executive director of Long Acre Estates, the part of the Mercers’ Company that deals with its properties around Covent Garden.

Heskett was made chief executive of Long Acre Estates in November 2008, to oversee a review of the Mercers’ Company’s property management activities. He left the Mercers’ Company last November by mutual consent, following the outcome of the review.

The government set up the Property Unit to maximise the value of the state’s property assets, estimated to be worth about £370bn. John McCready, former senior partner at Ernst & Young, was named the unit’s head in December.

Heskett’s appointment comes at a time when the main political parties are arguing over how to save money by best managing properties. Labour and the Conservatives regard efficiency savings as a way to help reduce the £167bn public deficit.

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