Based on a recent study of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in the UK stated that 60% of local authorities are intending to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously come under fire for selling playing fields and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a significant number of authorities seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would prioritise restructuring services and using savings to manage growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Disposals
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan included the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to raise 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures
This research of councils in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of authorities will have to increase council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council 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 temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these take time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
Research of county councils recently also found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals requiring Send support.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper outlining those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) for English councils, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“Although only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data underscores the scale of challenges confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of deprivation and need,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, councils 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 councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
