According to a new poll of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England stated that 60% of councils are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a significant number of authorities seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to weather growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties 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
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to raise local levies next April to address the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He added: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase 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.”
National Trends and Projections
Research of regional authorities recently further found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of children and older individuals needing Send support.
A network of councils said that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) for English councils, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“While only a single urban area is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data highlights the scale of challenges confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
