According to a new survey of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously come under fire for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group said that a high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and using savings to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in Kent said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Strains
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of councils will need to raise council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority explained it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these take time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will persist to add to 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 very challenging.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
A survey of regional authorities recently further found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) for UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“Although only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the extent of difficulties confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the survey revealed.
