According to a new poll of municipal councils, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have previously come under fire for selling 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 high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a fire sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would focus on restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to weather growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
Medway Council in Kent said its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester 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 also be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Financial Pressures
The survey of councils in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise local levies next spring to cover the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority explained it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures take time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “We face population challenges which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
Research of county councils recently also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals requiring Send support.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and responds to the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist 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 social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.
