According to a new poll of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England stated that 60% of councils are intending to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for selling playing fields and land to support their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a significant number of councils seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would prioritise restructuring services and using savings to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Financial Strains
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to raise council taxes next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
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 temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these take time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “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 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities recently further found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several key cities members were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“While only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data highlights the scale of difficulties confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their residents.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the study revealed.
