According to a latest poll of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK stated that 60% of local authorities are intending to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for selling public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of authorities seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in Kent said its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Fiscal Pressures
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise local levies next April to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these require time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “We face population challenges which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
Research of regional authorities this week also found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of children and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
According to the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, several key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged 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,” noted the study.
“While only one key city is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data underscores the scale of challenges facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and addresses the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the study found.
