According to a new survey of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of councils are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and utilising savings to weather growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England announced its property management strategy included the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in another town to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to increase council taxes next April to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures require time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
Research of county councils this week further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) for English councils, several participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“While only one key city is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data highlights the scale 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 equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.
