According to a new poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to offload social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of public land and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group noted that a significant number of authorities seeking to generate funds from a quick 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 manage growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England announced its property management strategy featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks held in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Financial Strains
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to increase local levies next spring to cover the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these require time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He added: “We face population challenges which will persist to increase 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 Projections
A survey of regional authorities recently further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and adults needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the scale of difficulties confronting local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
