Based on a new study of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK reported that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously come under fire for selling public land and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a high proportion of councils seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders stated they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising savings to manage growing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Financial Pressures
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these require time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of county councils this week further found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of children and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a policy document setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.
“While only a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties confronting local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.
