According to a new survey of municipal councils, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in the UK stated that 60% of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for selling playing fields and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of authorities attempting to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Planned Sales
One local authority in Kent announced its property management strategy featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures
This research of councils in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to increase local levies next April to cover the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures require time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He added: “There are population challenges which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities recently further found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of young people and adults requiring Send support.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, many key cities members were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the latest IMD measures,” noted the study.
“Although only a single urban area is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their residents.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the study found.
