Based on a recent poll of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in the UK stated that 60% of councils are planning to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously come under fire for disposing of public land and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would focus on service redesigns and using savings to weather growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Sales
Medway Council in Kent said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Fiscal Strains
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to raise council taxes next April to address the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures require time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils this week further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and adults requiring Send support.
A network of councils said that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they grapple 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 was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering English councils, many key cities members were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“Although only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of deprivation and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities 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 local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the study found.
