According to a new survey of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of councils are intending to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for selling public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group said that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a fire sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising savings to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in Kent announced its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Financial Strains
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to raise council taxes next April to cover the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, 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 continue to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
Research of county councils this week further found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of young people and adults needing Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a white paper outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) for UK local authorities, 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 place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“While only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data highlights the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.
