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Based on a latest poll of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.

Increasing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in England reported that 60% of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.

Local governments have in the past come under fire for selling playing fields and land to support their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.

This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and using financial reserves to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”

Specific Examples of Proposed Disposals

One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.

• Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the strategy.

Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures

The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to increase local levies next April to address the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.

The authority said it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.

“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures take time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.

He continued: “There are population challenges which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”

Countrywide Trends and Forecasts

Research of county councils recently further found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and adults needing Send support.

A network of councils said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.

Government officials have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document setting out those reforms was recently delayed.

Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls

According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering English councils, many participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in England.

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

“While only one key city is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.

“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage 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 reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”

One in five of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.