English councils plan to sell off social clubs and sports centres to balance books | Local government

British councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centers and shopping malls, betting the assets will be sold by fire to balance the books, according to a survey of local authorities.

The group of key cities councils representing second-tier cities in England said 60 per cent of councils plan to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.

Councils have come under fire in the past for selling playing fields and land to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.

The group said the large number of councils looking to raise money from the emergency sale of assets marked “a marked shift from 2024, when the majority of local leaders (60%) said they would prioritize service redesigns and drawing on financial reserves to tackle growing financial challenges.”

Medway council in Kent said its property management strategy includes the sale of a shopping center in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to raise £20 million over five years. Gillingham golf club and business parks in Worcestershire and Suffolk, all of which provide leases to Medway council, will also be sold as part of the plan.

The survey of councils in a key group of cities including Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford also found that more than 70 per cent of councils will need to increase council taxes next April to meet rising costs of essential services, rising levels of homelessness and long-standing housing shortages.

Medway council has said it will continue asset sales following major increases in the cost of children’s services, special educational needs and disability (Repatriation) service, adult social care and temporary accommodation.

“We are pursuing innovative approaches but some of these take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiencies,” Medway council leader Vince Maple said.

He added: “There are demographic pressures that will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority we had a 91% cut in our income support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”

A survey of district councils this week also found council budgets are being strained by the increasing number of young people and adults needing Send support.

The County Councils Network said council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029 as it struggles to cope with rising demand.

Ministers have postponed planned reforms to the Send system until next year after the white paper setting out these reforms was recently postponed.

Many key city members were among the most deprived in England, according to the latest indexes of deprivation (IMD) covering English councils.

“Member cities such as Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton are in the top 30 nationally within the scope of 2025 IMD measures,” the report said.

“While only one major city is in the top 10 for deprived neighborhoods nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in England’s poorest fifth. The data reveals the scale of the challenges local leaders will face in major cities in the coming year,” the report added.

Sunderland council leader Michael Mordey said: “Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to real levels of deprivation and demand.

“Without this, councils will continue to face impossible choices about which essential services to allocate spending to and which to cut to the detriment of their communities.”

The survey found a fifth of councils had cut or compromised social care provision in the last 12 months.