Based on a new study of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK 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.
Local governments have previously come under fire for disposing of public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group said that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would focus on restructuring services and using savings to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Sales
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to raise £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal Strains
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of councils will need to increase council taxes next April to cover the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He added: “There are population challenges 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 over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
Research of regional authorities this week further found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) for English councils, many key cities members were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“While only one key city is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas 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 major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the study revealed.