According to a new study of local authorities, English councils are preparing to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of public land and land to support their finances, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a high proportion of authorities seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of authorities will need to increase local levies next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
A survey of regional authorities this week further found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and adults requiring Send support.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
According to the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) for English councils, many key cities members were among the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.
“Although only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data underscores the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the survey found.
