According to a latest survey of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group 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 focus on restructuring services and using savings to weather growing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in another town to generate £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks held in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Financial Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of councils will need to raise local levies next April to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Projections
Research of regional authorities recently further found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) for UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“While only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the scale of challenges facing local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the study found.
