According to a latest poll of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England stated that 60% of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for disposing of public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue 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 (60%) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan included the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to raise local levies next April to cover the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He added: “We face population challenges which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
Research of regional authorities recently also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) covering UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“While only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data underscores the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” stated 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 disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
