According to a new poll of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for disposing of playing fields and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Disposals
One local authority in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in Rochester to raise 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks held in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Financial Strains
The survey of councils in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of councils will need to increase local levies next April to cover the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these require time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities this week also found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a policy document setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, many key cities members were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“Although only a single urban area is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the survey revealed.
