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Based on a new study of local authorities, UK councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.

Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales

A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in the UK stated that six out of ten of councils are intending to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.

Councils have in the past come under fire for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.

This coalition said that a significant number of councils seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to weather growing financial challenges.”

Specific Cases of Proposed Disposals

Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.

• Gillingham golf club and business parks held in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be sold under the plan.

Local Levy Increases and Wider Financial Pressures

This research of local authorities in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase local levies next April to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.

Medway council 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 temporary accommodation.

“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.

He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”

National Patterns and Projections

Research of regional authorities recently also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and older individuals needing Send support.

The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.

Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.

Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls

Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) covering English councils, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in England.

• “Member cities like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the latest IMD measures,” said the study.

“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 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 facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.

“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and responds to the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said a council leader.

“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their residents.”

A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.