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Based on a new study of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.

Growing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales

A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK reported that 60% of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.

Councils have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.

This coalition said 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 (60%) of municipal officials stated they would focus on restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”

Detailed Examples of Proposed Disposals

One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.

• Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the strategy.

Local Levy Increases and Wider Financial Strains

The survey of councils in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of authorities will need to raise council taxes next April to address the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.

Medway council said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.

“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.

He continued: “There are population challenges which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”

Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts

A survey of regional authorities recently also found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of children and older individuals needing Send support.

A network of councils said that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage increased demand.

Ministers have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.

Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls

Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.

• “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the latest IMD measures,” said the study.

“Although only a single urban area is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data highlights the extent of challenges confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.

“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said Michael Mordey.

“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”

A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the study found.