Based on a recent poll of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in England stated that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously come under fire for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a significant number of councils attempting to raise money from a fire sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders said they would focus on restructuring services and using savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Disposals
One local authority in Kent announced its property management strategy featured the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal Strains
This research of councils in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of councils will need to raise local levies next spring to cover the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities this week further found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of young people and adults requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“Although only one key city is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties confronting municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the survey found.
