According to a new survey of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, 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 representing major urban areas in England reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for disposing of public land 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 significant number of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would prioritise service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise council taxes next April to address the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase 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.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of county councils recently also found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
According to the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, several participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“While only a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data highlights the extent of difficulties confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, 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 survey revealed.
