According to a new study of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in the UK stated that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have previously 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 asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of authorities seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials said they would prioritise service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in Kent said its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Pressures
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of councils will need to raise council taxes next April to address the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority said it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of regional authorities this week further found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering English councils, several participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“Although only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the scale of challenges facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the study found.
