Based on a new survey of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in England reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past come under fire for selling public land and land to support their finances, but they contend they must continue 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 marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would focus on restructuring services and using financial reserves to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Pressures
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of authorities will need to raise local levies next April to cover the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority explained it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “We face population challenges which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
A survey of county councils recently further found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“While only one key city is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the extent of difficulties confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will persist 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 social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.
