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Based on a recent survey of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, 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 representing second-tier cities in England reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.

Councils have in the past come under fire for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.

The group noted that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and using savings to manage growing fiscal pressures.”

Detailed Cases of Planned Disposals

One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.

• Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.

Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Pressures

This research of local authorities in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of councils will need to raise council taxes next April to address the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.

Medway council explained it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.

“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” stated a council leader.

He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to add to 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.”

Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts

Research of regional authorities this week further found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.

The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.

Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a white paper setting out those reforms was recently delayed.

Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls

According to the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) covering English councils, several participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in England.

• “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 nationally under the latest IMD measures,” noted the study.

“While only one key city is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data highlights the scale of difficulties confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.

“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.

“Lacking this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”

A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.