According to a recent study of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK stated 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 in the past come under fire for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a fire sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in Kent said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will need to raise local levies next spring to address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these require time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
Research of regional authorities this week further found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and adults requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“Although only one key city is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the scale of challenges facing municipal officials across key cities 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 deprivation and demand,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the study found.
