Based on a recent poll of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past come under fire for selling playing fields and land to support their finances, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group noted that a high proportion of authorities seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and using savings to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in another town to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Financial Pressures
The survey of councils 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 core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority 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 temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “There are population challenges which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Projections
A survey of regional authorities recently also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) covering UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the study found.
