Based on a latest study of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK reported that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of authorities seeking 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 stated they would focus on restructuring services and using savings to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced its property management strategy included the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in another town 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 additionally be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will need to increase council taxes next April to address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these take time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities recently also found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a white paper outlining those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
According to the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) for UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“Although only one key city is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and need,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.
