According to a recent poll of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and land to support their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group said that a significant number of authorities seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Sales
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Pressures
This research of councils in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of councils will need to raise local levies next April to address the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority said it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He added: “We face population challenges which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils this week also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) for UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were among the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the survey revealed.
