Based on a new poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for major urban areas in England reported that 60% of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously come under fire for selling playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group 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 largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in southeast England said its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Fiscal Strains
This research of councils in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of authorities will have to increase local levies next spring to address the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority said it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
Research of regional authorities this week further found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of children and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) for UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“While only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data highlights the extent of difficulties confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to the real levels of deprivation and demand,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the survey revealed.
