Based on a recent study of municipal councils, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in England reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and land to support their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising savings to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy included the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Financial Pressures
The survey of councils in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “There are population challenges which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of county councils recently also found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and adults needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) covering English councils, many participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“While only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data highlights the extent of difficulties confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and addresses the real levels of deprivation and need,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the survey found.
