Based on a new study of local authorities, English councils are preparing to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for major urban areas in England stated that 60% of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and land to support their budgets, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group noted that a significant number of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in Kent said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- 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.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Fiscal Strains
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of councils will need to increase council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority said it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures take time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “There are population challenges which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
A survey of county councils this week also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) covering English councils, many key cities members were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“While only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures highlights the scale of challenges confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and responds to the real levels of deprivation and need,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the study found.
