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According to a new survey of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.

Growing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales

A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in England stated that 60% of councils are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.

Councils have previously faced criticism for selling playing fields and land to support their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.

The group said that a high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a fire sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”

Detailed Examples of Planned Sales

One local authority in southeast England announced its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in another town to raise £20m over five years.

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

Local Levy Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures

The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase local levies next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.

The authority explained it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.

“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.

He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”

National Patterns and Forecasts

Research of regional authorities recently also found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.

The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.

Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document setting out those changes was recently delayed.

Deprivation and Financial Gaps

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

• “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 nationally under the latest deprivation indices,” noted the study.

“Although only one key city is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties confronting municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.

“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.

“Without this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”

A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the survey revealed.