According to a new survey of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in the UK reported that 60% of councils are planning 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 public land and land to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group noted that a high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in Kent announced its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Strains
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase council taxes next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, 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,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, 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 regional authorities recently further found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of children and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and need,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the study found.
