According to a new poll of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for selling playing fields 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 noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Planned Disposals
One local authority in Kent said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Fiscal Strains
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to raise council taxes next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities this week further found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
According to the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several key cities members were among the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the top 30 nationally under the latest IMD measures,” said the study.
“Although only one key city is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures underscores the scale of challenges confronting local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the study found.
