According to a new study of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for disposing of public land and land to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a fire sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in Kent said its property management strategy featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in another town to generate £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Fiscal Strains
This research of councils in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of councils will need to raise council taxes next spring to address the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these take time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will continue to add to 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 Patterns and Projections
Research of county councils recently further found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a white paper outlining those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) covering English councils, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“While only a single urban area is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures highlights the scale of challenges facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and responds to the real levels of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the study found.
