Based on a latest survey of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Growing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK reported that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for disposing of public land and open spaces to support their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group noted that a high proportion of authorities attempting to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would focus on restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in Rochester to raise 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase local levies next April to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these take time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities this week further found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and adults needing Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several key cities members were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“While only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data highlights the extent of challenges confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been explicit 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.
“Without 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 residents.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the survey found.
