Based on a recent survey of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Pressures 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 escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for selling public land and land to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a high proportion of councils attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would focus on restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to weather growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan included the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Financial Strains
This research of councils in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will need to increase local levies next spring to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures take time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Forecasts
A survey of county councils recently also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and older individuals requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a white paper setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) for UK local authorities, several key cities members were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“While only one key city is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data underscores the extent of challenges facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the survey found.
