According to a new study of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in England reported that 60% of councils are intending to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously come under fire for disposing of playing fields and land to support their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of councils attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Disposals
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Financial Strains
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of county councils this week also found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of children and adults needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a policy document setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) for English councils, several participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“Although only one key city is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the survey revealed.
