According to a latest study of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK reported that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously come under fire for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a high proportion of councils seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials stated they would focus on restructuring services and using financial reserves to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in Kent said its property management strategy included the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Financial Pressures
This research of councils in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to raise local levies next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Forecasts
A survey of county councils recently also found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and adults needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper setting out those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“Although only a single urban area is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data highlights the scale of challenges confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” 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 real levels of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
