According to a new poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Growing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of councils are intending to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for disposing of playing fields and land to support their finances, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials said they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in Kent said its property management strategy featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and commercial properties held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Pressures
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of authorities will have to increase local levies next April to address the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
A survey of county councils recently further found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and adults requiring Send support.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering English councils, many participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the latest IMD measures,” said the study.
“Although only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and need,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.
