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Based on a new poll of municipal councils, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.

Growing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in England stated that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.

Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of public land and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.

The group noted that a significant number of authorities seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to manage growing fiscal pressures.”

Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales

Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in another town to generate £20m over five years.

• Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be sold under the plan.

Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Strains

This research of councils in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of authorities will have to increase local levies next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.

The authority said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.

“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these take time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.

He continued: “There are population challenges which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”

Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts

A survey of county councils recently further found local finances being stretched by the growing number of young people and adults requiring Send support.

A network of councils said that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.

Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document setting out those changes was recently delayed.

Disadvantage and Financial Gaps

Based on the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) for UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in England.

• “Member cities like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the latest deprivation indices,” said the study.

“Although only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis added.

“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” said Michael Mordey.

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

A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.