Based on a new study of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to sell assets to meet 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 support their finances, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group said that a significant number of councils attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising savings to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Disposals
One local authority in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of councils will need to raise local levies next April to cover the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these require time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities this week also found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper outlining those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several key cities members were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the scale of difficulties facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
