According to a new poll of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have previously faced criticism for selling public land and land to support their finances, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group noted that a high proportion of authorities attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan 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 held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Strains
This research of councils in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to increase council taxes next April to address the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council said it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to add to 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 extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
A survey of county councils recently also found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
According to 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 rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the scale of difficulties facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.
