According to a recent study of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England stated that 60% of councils are intending to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have previously come under fire for disposing of playing fields and land to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group said that a high proportion of authorities seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would focus on service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to weather growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Financial Strains
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of councils will need to increase local levies next April to cover the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
Research of county councils recently also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and adults needing Send support.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a policy document setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) for UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“While only one key city is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data underscores the scale of difficulties confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
