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According to a recent poll of municipal councils, English councils are planning to offload community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.

Increasing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.

Local governments have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and land to support their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.

The group noted that a high proportion of councils attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on restructuring services and utilising savings to manage growing fiscal pressures.”

Detailed Examples of Planned Disposals

One local authority in Kent said its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in another town to raise 20 million pounds over five years.

• A local golf course and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be sold under the plan.

Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Pressures

The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will need to raise council taxes next April to cover the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.

Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.

“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” stated a council leader.

He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to increase the strains 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 Trends and Forecasts

A survey of county councils recently also found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring Send support.

A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.

Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a policy document setting out those reforms has been postponed.

Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls

Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, several key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.

• “Member cities like several major towns place in the top 30 across the country under the latest deprivation indices,” noted the report.

“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data highlights the extent of challenges facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.

“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of deprivation and demand,” stated a council leader.

“Without this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”

One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.