According to a recent poll of municipal councils, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group said that a high proportion of authorities seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to weather growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in Kent announced its property management strategy included the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to raise 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase council taxes next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils this week also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a policy document setting out those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“While only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data highlights the scale of challenges facing local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and addresses the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the survey revealed.
