According to a recent study of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive 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 adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for disposing of public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of councils attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in another town to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Pressures
This research of councils in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these take time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Projections
Research of county councils recently also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were among the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“While only a single urban area is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” 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.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the study found.
