According to a new survey of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to offload social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for selling public land and land to support their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group said that a high proportion of councils seeking to generate funds 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 service redesigns and using financial reserves to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy included the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in another town to raise £20m 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 plan.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Financial Strains
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to raise local levies next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority explained it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He added: “We face population challenges which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Projections
A survey of county councils recently further found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
According to the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.
“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data highlights the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and addresses the real levels of deprivation and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
