According to a new poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in England reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for disposing of public land and land to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and utilising savings to weather growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in Kent said its property management strategy included the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Strains
This research of councils in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of councils will need to increase local levies next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He added: “We face population challenges which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Projections
Research of county councils this week further found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of young people and adults needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, several key cities members were among the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the extent of challenges 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 financial structure that reflects and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the survey found.
