According to a new poll of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of councils are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a significant number of councils seeking to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Financial Strains
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of authorities will need to increase local levies next spring to address the rising cost of essential services, 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, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these require time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities this week further found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a white paper setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) for UK local authorities, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data underscores the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the survey found.
