Based on a recent poll of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past come under fire for selling playing fields and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials said they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Disposals
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 another town to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will need to increase local levies next spring to address the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these take time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “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 over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
A survey of regional authorities recently further found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and adults needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) for UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“Although only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures underscores the scale of difficulties confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the survey found.
