Based on a recent poll of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Growing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in the UK stated that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for selling playing fields and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group said that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to weather growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of councils will need to increase local levies next April to cover the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities recently also found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a policy document setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering English councils, several participating urban areas were among the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures underscores the extent of challenges confronting municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
