🔗 Share this article

According to a new poll of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.

Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales

A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK reported that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.

Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.

This coalition said that a high proportion of councils attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would focus on restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”

Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals

One local authority in southeast England announced its property management strategy included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate 20 million pounds over five years.

• A local golf course and business parks held in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.

Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Pressures

This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to raise council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.

The authority said it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.

“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” stated a council leader.

He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”

Countrywide Trends and Projections

Research of regional authorities recently also found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals needing Send support.

The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage rising needs.

Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper setting out those reforms has been postponed.

Deprivation and Funding Gaps

According to the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) for UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were among the most deprived in England.

• “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.

“Although only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the scale of challenges facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.

“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” said a council leader.

“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”

One in five of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the study found.