According to a recent study of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group said that a high proportion of councils attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders stated they would prioritise restructuring services and using savings to weather growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Fiscal Strains
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase local levies next April to cover the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures take time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “We face population challenges which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
A survey of regional authorities recently also found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring Send support.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a white paper setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering English councils, several participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“Although only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the study revealed.
