2.18 The disposal of existing central London property assets has been retained by the Home Office. At the Further Best and Final Offers evaluation stage, the Home Office's property advisers considered that the prices offered by the bidders for the freehold properties (Abell House, Cleland House and Horseferry House) were not value for money as compared to the public sector comparator. Figure 9 shows how the values compared. The Home Office took their advice and disposal of these assets was not included in the preferred bidder negotiations. The prices offered by the bidders will have reflected their assessment of the risk of changes in the property market. There have been value decreases in the commercial and residential property market in central London since March 2002 and it is possible that the value of the freeholds is now less than estimated by the Home Office in 2002. The extent to which this risk will materialise will not be clear until the properties are sold.