According to a new poll of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in England reported that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to meet the escalating 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 proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of councils seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of assets marked “a clear change 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.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England said its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in another town to generate 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Fiscal Strains
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten 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.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures take time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He added: “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 Patterns and Projections
A survey of county councils recently also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring Send support.
A network of councils said 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 planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) for English councils, several key cities members were among the most deprived in the country.
- “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 ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the study found.
