According to a latest survey of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK stated that 60% of councils are planning to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group said that a significant number of authorities seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in another town to raise 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks held in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Financial Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise council taxes next spring to cover the rising 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 steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of county councils this week also found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and adults needing Send support.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
According to the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) for UK local authorities, many 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 most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“While only one key city is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data highlights the scale of challenges confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and addresses the real levels of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
