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Based on a new survey of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.

Increasing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in the UK stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.

Councils have in the past faced criticism for disposing of public land and land to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.

This coalition noted that a high proportion of authorities attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising savings to weather growing fiscal pressures.”

Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales

One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to generate 20 million pounds over five years.

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

Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Pressures

The survey of councils in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of councils will need to raise local levies next April to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.

The authority explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.

“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these take time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” said a council leader.

He added: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”

National Patterns and Projections

Research of county councils this week also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and older individuals needing Send support.

The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.

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

Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls

Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in England.

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

“Although only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data underscores the extent of difficulties confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.

“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said a council leader.

“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”

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