Based on a new survey of municipal councils, English councils are planning to offload community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK stated that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for selling public land and land to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would focus on service redesigns and using savings to manage growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in Kent said its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Fiscal Strains
The survey of councils in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to increase council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels 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 youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities recently further found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and adults needing Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, several key cities members were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“Although only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the study found.
