According to a latest poll of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in the UK reported that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for selling playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would prioritise service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to raise local levies next April to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority explained it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He added: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase 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
A survey of county councils this week also found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of children and adults requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds 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 the coming year after a white paper setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
According to the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, several key cities members were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“While only a single urban area is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the study found.
