Based on a latest study of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have in the past come under fire for disposing of public land and land to support their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and using savings to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of councils will need to increase council taxes next April to address the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority explained it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures take time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
A survey of county councils this week further found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals needing Send support.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) for UK local authorities, many key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“Although only one key city is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the extent of challenges confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the survey revealed.
