Based on a new survey of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for major urban areas in England reported 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 shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group said that a high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and using savings to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England announced its property management strategy included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax 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 need to increase local levies next April to cover the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils recently further found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of young people and adults requiring Send support.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper outlining those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
According to the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures underscores the extent of challenges facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to the real levels of deprivation and need,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the study revealed.
