According to a recent study of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK stated that 60% of councils are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a high proportion of authorities attempting to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and using savings to weather growing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Planned Disposals
One local authority in southeast England announced its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in Rochester to raise 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Fiscal Strains
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to increase local levies next April to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils this week further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
According to the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) for English councils, many participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“While only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data highlights the scale of challenges confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and responds to the real levels of deprivation and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
