🔗 Share this article

According to a new study of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.

Increasing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales

A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK stated that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to cover the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.

Councils have previously faced criticism for selling public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.

This coalition said that a significant number of authorities attempting to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials stated they would focus on service redesigns and utilising savings to manage growing financial challenges.”

Detailed Cases of Planned Disposals

One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in another town to generate 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.

• A local golf course and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.

Council Tax Rises and Wider Financial Pressures

The survey of councils in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of authorities will have to increase council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.

Medway council explained it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.

“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.

He added: “There are population challenges which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”

National Patterns and Projections

Research of regional authorities recently also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring Send support.

A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.

Ministers have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a white paper outlining those reforms was recently delayed.

Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls

Based on the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) covering English councils, many key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in England.

• “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.

“While only a single urban area is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures highlights the scale of challenges confronting municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis added.

“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and need,” stated Michael Mordey.

“Lacking this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”

One in five of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.