According to a new poll of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to offload community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Growing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK stated that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and land to support their finances, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a high proportion of councils seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders stated they would prioritise restructuring services and using savings to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in Kent announced its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Strains
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase local levies next April to address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, 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 better provisions and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities recently further found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were among the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“While only a single urban area 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 data highlights the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the study revealed.
