Based on a new poll of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in England stated that 60% of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for disposing of public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials said they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Strains
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to increase local levies next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase the strains 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 county councils this week further found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and older individuals needing Send support.
A network of councils said that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, many participating urban areas were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the extent of challenges facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the survey found.
