According to a new study of municipal councils, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in England stated that 60% of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of public land and land to support their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in Kent said its property management strategy 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 held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to raise local levies next spring to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will proceed 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 adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities this week also found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were among the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“While only one key city is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the study revealed.
