According to a new poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK stated that 60% of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and land to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials said they would focus on restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in Kent said its property management strategy included the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to raise council taxes next April to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority explained it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases 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 certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities this week further found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and adults needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“Although only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the scale of challenges confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the survey found.
