Based on a recent survey of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in England stated that 60% of local authorities are planning to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously come under fire for selling public land and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group said that a high proportion of councils attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and using savings to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- 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 plan.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Fiscal Strains
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to raise council taxes next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
Research of county councils recently also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
According to the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“Although 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 worst-off 20% of England. The data highlights the extent of challenges confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.
