According to a recent survey of municipal councils, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for disposing of public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise restructuring services and using savings to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Strains
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise local levies next spring to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities this week further found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and adults requiring Send support.
A network of councils said that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) covering English councils, many participating urban areas were among the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“Although only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the scale of challenges confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the study found.
