According to a recent study of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England reported that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have in the past come under fire for selling playing fields and land to support their finances, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Strains
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase council taxes next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority explained it will proceed with property disposals 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 require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will persist 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 very challenging.”
National Trends and Projections
A survey of regional authorities this week also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) for English councils, many participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“While only one key city is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the scale of difficulties confronting local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and need,” said a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, 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 found.
