English Councils Plan to Dispose of Social Clubs and Sports Centres to Balance Books
Based on a new study of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for selling public land and land to support their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a significant number of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and using financial reserves to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in Rochester to raise £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 additionally be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Strains
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to increase local levies next spring to cover the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority said 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 taking innovative approaches but some of these require time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities this week further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals requiring Send support.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a white paper setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
According to the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) covering UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the latest deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data underscores the scale of challenges facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.