English Local Authorities Plan to Sell Off Community Hubs and Sports Centres to Manage Finances

According to a new study of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.

Growing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales

A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England stated 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 previously come under fire for selling playing fields and land to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.

This coalition said that a significant number of councils attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”

Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales

One local authority in southeast England announced its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over five years.

• Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be sold under the strategy.

Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Strains

The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of councils will need to raise local levies next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.

Medway council said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.

“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.

He added: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”

National Trends and Forecasts

Research of county councils recently also found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and adults needing Send support.

A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage increased demand.

Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.

Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls

According to the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several key cities members were among the most deprived in the country.

• “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the latest IMD measures,” said the report.

“While only one key city is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.

“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated Michael Mordey.

“Without this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their residents.”

One in five of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.