According to a latest survey of local authorities, English councils are preparing to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to sell assets to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group noted that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets 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 weather increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures
This research of councils in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase local levies next April to cover the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority explained it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will persist to add to 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 Forecasts
Research of county councils recently also found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“While only a single urban area is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and need,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the study revealed.
