According to a new study of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for disposing of public land and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group said that a significant number of councils seeking to raise money from a fire sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced its property management strategy included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks held in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Financial Pressures
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of councils will need to raise local levies next spring to cover the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are 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 very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils recently also found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits 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 Send system until next year after a policy document setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) for UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“Although only one key city is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures highlights the extent of challenges confronting local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and need,” said a council leader.
“Without this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the study found.
