According to a latest study of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England stated that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling public land and land to shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities seeking to raise money from a fire sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in southeast England announced its property management strategy featured the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks 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 Wider Financial Pressures
This research of councils in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of councils will need to raise council taxes next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority explained it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
Research of regional authorities this week further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a white paper setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“Although only a single urban area is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.
