According to a recent study of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for major urban areas in the UK stated that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for selling public land and land to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of councils seeking to raise money from a fire sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of authorities will need to increase council taxes next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will proceed with property disposals 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 taking innovative approaches but certain measures take time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities recently also found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of young people and adults needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a white paper setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“Although only a single urban area 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 data highlights the scale of challenges confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of deprivation and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions 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 social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.
