According to a recent survey of municipal councils, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing 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 adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group said that a significant number of councils seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of authorities will have to increase local levies next April to address the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures take time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of county councils this week further found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of children and adults needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper outlining those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data highlights the scale of challenges facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without 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 communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.
