According to a new poll of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of councils are intending to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have in the past come under fire for disposing of public land and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a high proportion of authorities seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Pressures
This research of councils in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of councils will need to raise local levies next April to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
Research of county councils recently further found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals needing Send support.
A network of councils said 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 Send system until next year after a white paper outlining those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
According to the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of deprivation and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
