Based on a new study of local authorities, English councils are preparing to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in England stated that six out of ten of councils are intending to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously come under fire for selling playing fields and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group noted that a significant number of councils attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would focus on service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England said its property management strategy included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase council taxes next spring to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority explained it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Projections
Research of regional authorities this week further found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and adults needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, several key cities members were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“Although only one key city is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the extent of challenges confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of deprivation and need,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
