Based on a recent poll of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in England reported that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have in the past come under fire for selling playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group said that a significant number of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in Kent announced its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Strains
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of councils will need to raise council taxes next April to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities this week further found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of children and adults requiring Send support.
A network of councils said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document setting out those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) for English councils, several participating urban areas were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“Although only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data highlights the scale of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the study found.
