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Based on a latest study of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.

Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales

A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in England stated that 60% of local authorities are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.

Councils have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and land to support their budgets, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.

This coalition said that a high proportion of councils seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”

Detailed Cases of Planned Sales

Medway Council in Kent said its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.

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

Council Tax Increases and Broader Fiscal Strains

This research of councils in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase local levies next April to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.

Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.

“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.

He added: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to increase 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.”

Countrywide Patterns and Projections

Research of county councils this week further found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and adults needing special educational assistance.

The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.

Ministers have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms has been postponed.

Disadvantage and Financial Gaps

Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were included in 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,” noted the study.

“While only a single urban area is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures underscores the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis added.

“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” stated Michael Mordey.

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

One in five of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.