Based on a latest survey of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Growing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in England stated that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have previously come under fire for selling playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group said that a high proportion of councils attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to weather growing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Strains
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase local levies next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority said it will press ahead 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 achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities this week further found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and adults needing Send support.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
According to the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, several participating urban areas were among the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.
“Although only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data underscores the extent of challenges confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.
