According to a new survey of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have previously come under fire for disposing of public land and open spaces to support 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 raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders said they would focus on restructuring services and using savings to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures
This research of councils in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to raise local levies next April to address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
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 short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He added: “There are population challenges which will continue to add to 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 Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of county councils recently also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, several key cities members were among the most deprived in the country.
- “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,” noted the report.
“While only one key city is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the extent of challenges confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and need,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the survey revealed.
