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According to a latest survey of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.

Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales

A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK stated 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 previously come under fire for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.

The group noted that a high proportion of authorities attempting to raise money from a fire sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would focus on restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”

Specific Examples of Proposed Disposals

Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.

• Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.

Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Pressures

The survey of councils in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of councils will need to increase local levies next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.

Medway council said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.

“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.

He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”

Countrywide Patterns and Projections

Research of regional authorities recently also found council budgets being strained by the growing number of young people and adults needing special educational assistance.

The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.

Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper outlining those changes was recently delayed.

Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls

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

• “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 nationally under the latest deprivation indices,” said the report.

“While only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the extent of challenges confronting local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis added.

“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said Michael Mordey.

“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”

A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the survey found.