According to a recent poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would focus on restructuring services and utilising savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Strains
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to increase local levies next April to cover the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
A survey of county councils recently also found council budgets being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
According to the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“Although only one key city is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the scale of challenges confronting local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
