According to a latest survey of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group noted that a high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Financial Strains
This research of councils in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase local levies next spring to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these take time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “We face population challenges which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
Research of regional authorities this week further found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
According to the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) for UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.
“While only one key city is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the scale of challenges facing local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the report added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the study found.
