According to a latest poll of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for selling public land and open spaces to support their budgets, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders stated they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Financial Strains
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures take time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He added: “We face population challenges which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils recently also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) covering English councils, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.
“While only one key city is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the scale of difficulties confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.
