Based on a latest survey of municipal councils, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in England reported that six out of ten of councils are intending to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for selling playing fields and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group said that a significant number of authorities attempting to raise money from a quick sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials said they would prioritise restructuring services and using savings to weather growing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in Kent announced its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Fiscal Strains
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of councils will need to raise council taxes next spring to address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority explained it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Projections
A survey of regional authorities this week also found council budgets being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering 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 most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“While only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and addresses the real levels of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the survey found.
