According to a new study of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK stated that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and land to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a significant number of councils attempting to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in Kent announced its property management strategy included the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of authorities will have to increase council taxes next April to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, 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 improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities recently also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring Send support.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) for UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“Although only a single urban area is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and addresses the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
