Based on a recent poll of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England stated that 60% of local authorities are intending to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have previously come under fire for disposing of public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan featured the disposal 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 owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Financial Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to increase council taxes next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures require time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He added: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase 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 also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of young people and adults needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a white paper setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering English councils, several key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” 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 England. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the report added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
