Based on a recent poll of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England reported that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for selling public land and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a high proportion of authorities attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising savings to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Financial Pressures
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise local levies next April to address the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these take time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Projections
Research of county councils this week also found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and adults requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
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.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
According to the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) covering UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were among the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“Although only a single urban area is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data highlights the extent of difficulties confronting local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Council officials 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 demand,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.
