According to a latest survey of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK stated that 60% of councils are intending to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a high proportion 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 municipal officials stated they would focus on service redesigns and utilising savings to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in Kent said its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to generate £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Strains
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to raise council taxes next spring to address the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures take time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “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 revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities recently further found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of children and older individuals requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
According to the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) for English councils, several key cities members were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 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 far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the survey revealed.
