According to a latest poll of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have previously come under fire for selling playing fields and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a significant number of authorities attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex 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 two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of authorities will need to raise council taxes next April to cover the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He added: “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 over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities this week also found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and adults needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) for UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data highlights the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the study found.
