According to a new study of local authorities, English councils are preparing to offload community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously come under fire for disposing of playing fields and land to support their budgets, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and using financial reserves to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in Kent said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue 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 provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Strains
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise council taxes next spring to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, 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 continued: “There are population challenges which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils recently further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and adults requiring Send support.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering English councils, many participating urban areas were among the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“While only a single urban area is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the extent of difficulties facing 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 financial structure that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist 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 reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the study found.
