Based on a latest poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are intending to sell assets to cover the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling public land and land to support their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group said that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in Kent announced its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of councils will need to increase council taxes next April to address the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He added: “There are population challenges which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils this week also found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a white paper outlining those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
According to the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several key cities members were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“While only one key city is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and need,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the study found.
