According to a latest survey of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to offload community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for disposing of public land and open spaces to support their finances, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group noted that a significant number of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in another town to generate 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of authorities will need to raise local levies next spring to cover the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these require time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
A survey of regional authorities recently further found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and adults requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, several key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“While only one key city is in 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 extent of difficulties confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and responds to the real levels of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the study found.
