Chief financial officer James Gray said a survey of more than 300 buildings found the estate to be in a “pretty poor condition”. 

Several buildings have been partly shut down due to their state of disrepair, with some not even wind or watertight, he added.

Appearing before Holyrood’s criminal justice committee, Mr Gray said £242 million worth of works would be required over the next ten years simply in order to bring the estate up to what the force classifies as ‘condition B’.

“We’re not looking to gold plate it,” he explained. “We’re just looking to have buildings that are in a reasonable condition.”

Mr Gray said the condition of the police estate was “somewhere similar” to that of Scotland’s schools prior to the £1.8 billion Schools for the Future capital programme, which has constructed or refurbished 117 buildings across the country.

“It’s in pretty poor condition,” he said. “We’re not looking to have everything shiny and new, we’re just looking to not have mould on the carpets, or parts of the buildings that aren’t wind and watertight.

“Because we do have buildings that are not wind or watertight, where parts of them have had to be shut down.”

The committee heard that the force is looking to alleviate “significant costs” by revisiting its estate and fleet strategies.

The former will see the force increasingly share office facilities with other public sector organisations, such as local authorities and Scottish Fire & Rescue. The “co-located model,” said Mr Gray, would be pursued “wherever possible,” with the potential for “many millions of pounds” in savings.

The force also aims to move towards an electric fleet, saving millions from its annual fuel bill, which currently stands at £8m, and reducing the need for garages and mechanics.

“Our petrol and diesel cars are just getting older and older,” Mr Gray said. “We’ve been trying to break out of that cycle. I walked down the Royal Mile today and passed an eight-year-old police car – we really shouldn’t be having cars of that age. The cost of maintaining them is significant.”