According to a new survey of local authorities, UK councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to sell assets to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a high proportion of authorities seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising savings to manage growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced its property management strategy included the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Fiscal Strains
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of authorities will have to increase local levies next spring to address the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council said it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Projections
Research of regional authorities recently also found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of young people and adults needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the latest IMD measures,” noted the study.
“While only a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data underscores the extent of difficulties confronting municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the study revealed.
