Based on a new poll of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for major urban areas in England reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of councils attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would focus on service redesigns and utilising savings to weather growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Financial Pressures
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of councils will need to increase council taxes next April to address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these require time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “There are population challenges which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Projections
A survey of regional authorities recently also found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
A network of councils said that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
According to the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the extent of difficulties confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
