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Based on a new survey of municipal councils, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.

Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales

A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in the UK stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets 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 shore up their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.

The group noted that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and using savings to manage growing financial challenges.”

Specific Examples of Proposed Sales

One local authority in Kent said its property management strategy included the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over five years.

• Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.

Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Pressures

The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to increase council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.

The authority said 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 short-term housing.

“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these require time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” stated a council leader.

He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”

Countrywide Trends and Projections

A survey of regional authorities this week also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring Send support.

The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage increased demand.

Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those changes has been postponed.

Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls

According to the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, several participating urban areas were among the most deprived in the country.

• “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 nationally under the latest deprivation indices,” said the report.

“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures highlights the scale of challenges facing local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.

“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated a council leader.

“Without this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”

One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.