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According to a new study of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.

Growing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in the UK reported that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.

Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.

The group said that a significant number of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising savings to weather growing financial challenges.”

Specific Cases of Planned Disposals

One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise 20 million pounds over five years.

• A local golf course and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the plan.

Local Levy Increases and Broader Financial Pressures

The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to raise local levies next spring to cover the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.

Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.

“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.

He added: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”

National Patterns and Projections

Research of county councils recently also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children and older individuals needing special educational assistance.

The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage increased demand.

Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.

Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls

According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) for UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in England.

• “Participating urban centers 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 a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the scale of challenges facing local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.

“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated a council leader.

“Without this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”

A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the survey revealed.