According to a new poll of local authorities, UK councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England stated that 60% of councils are planning to sell assets to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for disposing of public land and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a high proportion of authorities attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials said they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to weather growing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Planned Sales
Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Financial Strains
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of authorities will have to raise council taxes next spring to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority said it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures take time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils recently also found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of children and adults needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering English councils, many participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the latest IMD measures,” noted the report.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the survey found.
