Based on a latest poll of municipal councils, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in England reported that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for disposing of public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition noted that a significant number of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Disposals
One local authority in Kent announced its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Pressures
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures require time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “We face population challenges which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Projections
Research of regional authorities recently also found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
According to the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) for English councils, many key cities members were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties confronting local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the survey found.
