According to a recent study of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in the UK stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group said that a significant number of councils seeking to raise money 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 utilising savings to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Financial Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, 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 core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities this week further found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of children and older individuals requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
According to the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“Although only a single urban area is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data highlights the scale of challenges confronting local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the study found.
