Based on a new poll of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to offload community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in the UK reported that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously come under fire for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Planned Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal Strains
The survey of councils 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 spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures require time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Projections
A survey of regional authorities this week also found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and adults requiring Send support.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) for English councils, several key cities members were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“While only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the scale of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the survey found.
