According to a latest poll of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England reported that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to cover the rising 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 argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its property management strategy featured the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Fiscal Strains
The survey of councils in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of authorities will need to increase local levies next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of regional authorities this week also found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of young people and adults requiring Send support.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, many participating urban areas were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 nationally under the latest IMD measures,” said the report.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data highlights the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the survey found.
