According to a recent study of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in England reported that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for selling playing fields and land to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of authorities attempting to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Planned Disposals
One local authority in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Fiscal Strains
This research of councils in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of councils will need to raise council taxes next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority said it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to increase 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 regional authorities this week further found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) for UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“While only one key city is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the scale of challenges confronting local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
