According to a new survey of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK stated that six out of ten of councils are intending to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously come under fire for selling public land and land to shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising savings to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Planned Sales
One local authority in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to raise 20 million pounds over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of authorities will have to raise local levies next April to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will proceed 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 adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Projections
Research of regional authorities recently further found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, many key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted 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 worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the study revealed.
