Based on a new study of local authorities, English councils are preparing to offload social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling public land and land to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a significant number of authorities attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would focus on service redesigns and using savings to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in Kent said its property management strategy included the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Strains
This research of councils in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase local levies next spring to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will persist to add to 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 Projections
A survey of regional authorities this week also found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, many participating urban areas were included in 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 ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the study found.
