Based on a latest study of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in England stated that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously come under fire for selling public land and land to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group said that a high proportion of councils attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising savings to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Financial Strains
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of authorities will need to increase local levies next April to address the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council explained 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 certain measures require time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of county councils this week also found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of young people and adults needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, many key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“While only one key city is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the study revealed.
