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According to a recent poll of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.

Growing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in the UK reported that 60% of councils are planning to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.

Local governments have previously faced criticism for selling playing fields and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.

The group said that a significant number of authorities attempting to raise money from a fire sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”

Specific Examples of Planned Disposals

Medway Council in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to generate £20m over five years.

• A local golf course and commercial properties held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.

Council Tax Rises and Wider Financial Strains

The survey of councils in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of authorities will need to increase local levies next April to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.

The authority said it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.

“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these require time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.

He continued: “There are population challenges which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”

Countrywide Trends and Projections

Research of county councils recently also found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing Send support.

The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, 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 white paper setting out those reforms has been postponed.

Deprivation and Financial Gaps

Based on the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) for English councils, several key cities members were included in the most deprived in England.

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

“While only one key city is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the scale of difficulties confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.

“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” stated a council leader.

“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”

A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the survey found.