Based on a new poll of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing 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.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for disposing of playing fields and land to support their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a high proportion of councils attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and using financial reserves to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in Kent announced its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase council taxes next April to address the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Forecasts
Research of county councils recently further found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and adults requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) for English councils, many participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of deprivation and need,” said a council leader.
“Without this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.
