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According to a new survey of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.

Growing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in the UK reported that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.

Councils have in the past faced criticism for selling public land and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.

The group said that a high proportion of authorities attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and using savings to weather growing fiscal pressures.”

Detailed Cases of Planned Disposals

One local authority in Kent said its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.

• A local golf course and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be sold under the strategy.

Local Levy Increases and Broader Fiscal Pressures

The survey of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to raise council taxes next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.

Medway council explained it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.

“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.

He added: “We face demographic pressures 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 very challenging.”

National Trends and Projections

A survey of county councils this week further found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and adults needing Send support.

The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.

Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a policy document setting out those reforms has been postponed.

Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls

Based on the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) for English councils, many participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in the country.

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

“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the extent of challenges confronting local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.

“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and responds to the real levels of deprivation and need,” stated Michael Mordey.

“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”

A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.