Based on a latest poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England reported that 60% of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have previously come under fire for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a fire sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials said they would focus on restructuring services and using savings to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of councils in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of authorities will have to raise council taxes next April to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
Research of county councils recently further found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
According to the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) for UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“Although only one key city is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data underscores the scale of difficulties confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the survey revealed.
