Based on a new study of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for major urban areas in the UK stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have previously come under fire for disposing of public land and open spaces to support their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of authorities seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its property management strategy included the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in Rochester to generate £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of authorities will have to raise local levies next April to address the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, 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 deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “There are population challenges which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils recently also found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
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.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) for UK local authorities, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“While only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and need,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the study found.
