🔗 Share this article

Based on a new poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.

Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales

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

Local governments have previously come under fire for selling playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.

The group said that a significant number of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage growing fiscal pressures.”

Specific Cases of Proposed Disposals

Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in another town to generate 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.

• Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be sold under the plan.

Local Levy Increases and Broader Fiscal Pressures

This research of councils in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase local levies next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.

The authority explained it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.

“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these require time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.

He added: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to add to the pressures 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 Patterns and Forecasts

A survey of county councils recently also found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of children and adults needing Send support.

A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.

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

Disadvantage and Funding Gaps

According to the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) for UK local authorities, several key cities members were included in the most deprived in the country.

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

“While only a single urban area is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the report concluded.

“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and need,” stated Michael Mordey.

“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”

One in five of councils have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the study found.