According to a new survey of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK stated that six out of ten of councils are intending to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for disposing of public land and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would prioritise restructuring services and using savings to weather growing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to generate 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Financial Pressures
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of councils will need to increase local levies next April to address the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority said it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He continued: “There are 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 Trends and Forecasts
A survey of county councils recently also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a white paper setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) covering English councils, many participating urban areas were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to the real levels of deprivation and need,” said a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their residents.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.
