According to a latest poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to sell assets to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for selling public land and open spaces to support their finances, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a fire sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders stated they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in another town to generate £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Fiscal Strains
This research of councils in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase council taxes next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “We face 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 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
Research of regional authorities this week also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of young people and older individuals requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a policy document setting out those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were among the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities 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 a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the study revealed.
