Based on a latest survey of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK reported that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for selling public land and open spaces to support their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Sales
One local authority in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal Strains
The survey of councils in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of councils will need to raise council taxes next spring to address the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority explained it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these require time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
A survey of regional authorities this week further found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
According to the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the latest IMD measures,” noted the report.
“Although only a single urban area is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the scale of challenges confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.
