According to a recent poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to offload community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for disposing of public land and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and using financial reserves to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced its property management strategy included the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Financial Strains
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of councils will need to increase council taxes next April to address the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these take time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
Research of regional authorities this week also found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of children and adults needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a white paper setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
According to the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) covering English councils, several participating urban areas were among the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“Although only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.
