According to a new poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to offload community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Growing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in the UK stated that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a high proportion of councils attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials said they would focus on restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Planned Disposals
One local authority in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in Rochester to raise 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Strains
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of authorities will have to increase local levies next April to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority said it will proceed 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 innovative approaches but certain measures take time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities recently also found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a white paper setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, many participating urban areas were among the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data highlights the scale of difficulties confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, councils will continue to face impossible choices 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 past 12 months, the study found.
