According to a latest study of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in England stated that 60% of councils are intending to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for disposing of playing fields and land to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would focus on restructuring services and utilising savings to manage growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Financial Strains
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to increase local levies next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority said it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures take time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “There are population challenges which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities recently also found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
According to the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“While only one key city is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures underscores the extent of challenges confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the study found.
