According to a latest study of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for major urban areas in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for selling public land and land to support their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials said they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Strains
The survey of councils in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase council taxes next spring to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority said it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are 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 over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils recently further found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and adults needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
According to the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“Although only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures underscores the scale of challenges facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the survey revealed.
