Based on a new study of local authorities, English councils are preparing to offload community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past come under fire for selling public land and open spaces to support their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group said that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in another town to raise 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Financial Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise council taxes next spring to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “We face population challenges which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of regional authorities recently further found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
According to the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.
“While only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data highlights the scale of challenges confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the survey revealed.
