According to a latest survey of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing 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.
Councils have in the past come under fire for selling public land and land to support their finances, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising savings to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Fiscal Strains
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of authorities will need to increase local levies next April to cover the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “There are population challenges which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Projections
Research of county councils recently also found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“While 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 England. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the survey found.
