Based on a recent poll of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for selling public land and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group noted that a significant number of councils seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in Kent said its property management strategy included the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of councils in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten 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.
Medway council explained it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
Research of county councils this week further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper setting out those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities 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 among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of deprivation and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.
