According to a recent poll of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in England reported that six out of ten of councils are intending to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously come under fire for selling playing fields and land to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group noted that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a fire sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders stated they would focus on service redesigns and using savings to weather growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in Kent said its property management strategy featured the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in another town to generate £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks held in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Strains
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of authorities will need to raise local levies next April to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures require time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “There are population challenges which will persist to add to 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.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of county councils this week also found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a policy document setting out those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
According to the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several key cities members were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“Although only one key city is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties confronting local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.
