According to a latest study of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in England reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past come under fire for disposing of playing fields and land to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials said they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Pressures
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to raise local levies next spring to address the rising 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 short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these require time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
A survey of county councils recently further found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of children and older individuals requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document setting out those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, several key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.
“Although only a single urban area is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the extent of challenges facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and need,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, 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 found.
