Based on a recent 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 properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in the UK stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and land to support their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities seeking 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 service redesigns and utilising savings to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in Kent said its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, 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 coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of authorities will have to raise council taxes next spring to address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Forecasts
Research of county councils this week also found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a white paper setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were included in the most deprived 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 IMD measures,” said the study.
“While only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will continue 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 local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.
