According to a new study of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in the UK stated that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for selling public land and open spaces to support their finances, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group noted that a high proportion of authorities attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials said they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England said its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Financial Strains
This research 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 address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council said it will proceed with asset sales 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 achieve both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Projections
A survey of county councils recently also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and adults requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) covering English councils, several participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged 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.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data highlights the extent of difficulties confronting local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
