Based on a latest study of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to cover the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for disposing of public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy included the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Strains
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to increase council taxes next spring to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities recently further found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) covering English councils, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data underscores the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
