According to a latest poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to offload social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Growing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in England stated that 60% of councils are intending to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously come under fire for disposing of public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and using financial reserves to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Planned Sales
Medway Council in southeast England announced its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase council taxes next spring to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities this week further found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper outlining those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, many key cities members were among the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.
“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties confronting municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the survey revealed.
