Based on a new study of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in England stated that 60% of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for selling public land and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group said that a high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a fire sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced its property management strategy included the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in another town to raise 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Strains
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will need to increase council taxes next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
Research of county councils recently also found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, many key cities members were among the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“While only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures underscores the scale of difficulties facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
