Based on a new survey of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in England reported that six out of ten of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of public land and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group said that a high proportion of authorities seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders stated they would focus on service redesigns and using savings to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to raise £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Fiscal Strains
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to increase council taxes next spring to address the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority explained it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Projections
Research of county councils this week further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
According to the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) for UK local authorities, many key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” stated 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 residents.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.
