Based on a latest poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK stated that six out of ten of councils are intending to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past come under fire for selling playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group noted that a significant number of authorities seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Planned 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 Rochester to generate £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to increase local levies next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures require time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities this week further found local finances being stretched by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) covering English councils, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties confronting municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the survey found.
