news worldnews australiaandthepacific australia 8026312 ----- # British consulate downsizes diplomatic residence for flats ## The British consulate in Australia is to sell off several of its properties worth millions of pounds as part of cost cutting measures which have seen 19 ambassadorial residences around the world sold in the past year. ![British consulate downsizes ambassadorial residence for flats ][1] The average house price in Vaucluse is A$3.5m (2.1m) Bonnie Malkin in Sydney 9:30PM BST 26 Sep 2010 [Comments][2] The plush residences of the Consul General in Sydney and Melbourne and the residence of the deputy consul general in Melbourne will be put on the market next year. Instead they will now be expected to live in more modest city apartments as part of the plans to provide "more for less", according to a spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in [**Australia**][3]**.** The Sydney Consul General's residence is located in one of the city's most expensive harbourside suburbs, Vaucluse, where the average house price is A$3.5m (£2.1m). As well as housing Richard Morris, the Consul General, and his family, the property is regularly used for official functions. Boasting a swimming pool, two-car garage and views of Sydney Harbour, it is expected to fetch several million dollars. The grand, sandstone building has been owned by the Foreign Office for more than 30 years. Craig Pontey, managing director of Ray White Prestige estate agents, said that the residence was in Sydney's "dress circle" and that nearby homes had recently sold for around A$7m. Prices of up to A$30m for outstanding properties in the area have been recorded. Likewise, the sprawling Consul General residence in Melbourne is situated in the eastern suburb of Toorak, the most exclusive address in the city. Houses in the leafy neighbourhood have an average price of A$2.2m. "As part of this review we are planning to sell the officially owned Consul General residences in Melbourne and Sydney and the Deputy Consul General's residence in Melbourne to help with saving money and providing more efficient buildings that are exactly fit for purpose," the Foreign Office representative in Australia told _The Daily Telegraph_. The sales come after Mr Cameron indicated in July that he had palatial residences in his sights when it came to sweeping Foreign Office cuts. At a Foreign Office meeting he told more than 200 ambassadors, high commissioners and senior officials that they could only justify their lavish residences if they worked to promote British business abroad. "If you want to keep Britain's great ambassadorial residences, then I want you to show me that every day you are using them relentlessly to open new trade links and to generate new business for Britain," he said. Several embassies around the world have already trimmed their budgets by selling off grand, older-style properties. The Foreign Office, which has been ordered to find cuts of 25 per cent to its budget, said that in the last 12 months it had sold 19 properties and still owned 2,168 over 170 countries. "We regularly acquire and dispose of property across our global estate as part of effective asset management and in order to achieve value for money for the taxpayer," a spokesman said. "The Foreign Office is committed to doing its part to contribute to government wide savings and efficiencies, as well as to maintaining a network that promotes British interests globally." 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