Based on a recent survey of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in England stated that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for selling playing fields and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a significant number of authorities seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Fiscal Strains
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase local levies next April to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils this week also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of young people and adults needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document setting out those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“While only one key city is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the survey revealed.
