According to a new survey of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing 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 in the past come under fire for disposing of playing fields and land to support their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of authorities seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in Kent said its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will need to raise local levies next April to cover the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
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 revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Forecasts
A survey of county councils recently also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“While only one key city is in the ten most deprived 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 confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the survey revealed.
