According to a new poll of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK stated that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for selling public land and open spaces to support their budgets, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of authorities seeking to raise money from a fire 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 growing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in Kent announced its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Strains
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of authorities will have to increase council taxes next April to cover the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to add to 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.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities recently also found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and adults requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
According to the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.
“While only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures highlights the scale of challenges facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.
