According to a latest study of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of councils are planning to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously come under fire for disposing of public land and land to support their finances, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to generate 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase local levies next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities this week further found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults needing Send support.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) for English councils, many key cities members were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.
“Although only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the extent of challenges confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.
