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According to a latest survey of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.

Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group for major urban areas in England reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to cover the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.

Councils have in the past come under fire for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.

The group noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would focus on service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”

Specific Examples of Planned Sales

One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.

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

Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Pressures

The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of authorities will need to increase local levies next April to address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.

The authority explained it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.

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

He added: “We face population challenges which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”

Countrywide Patterns and Projections

A survey of regional authorities recently also found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of young people and adults requiring special educational assistance.

A network of councils said that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.

Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document setting out those changes has been postponed.

Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls

Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, many participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.

• “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the top 30 nationally under the latest deprivation indices,” said the study.

“Although only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the extent of challenges confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report added.

“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said Michael Mordey.

“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”

A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.