Based on a new survey of local authorities, English councils are preparing to offload social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and land to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a high proportion of councils seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising savings to weather growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in Rochester to generate £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 strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Financial Pressures
The survey of councils in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of councils will need to raise local levies next spring to address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these require time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Projections
Research of county councils recently further found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
According to the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) covering UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.
“Although only one key city is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures highlights the extent of challenges confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.
