According to a latest poll of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in England stated that 60% of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously come under fire for disposing of playing fields and land to support their finances, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group noted that a high proportion of authorities attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and using savings to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of councils will need to increase council taxes next April to cover the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases 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 achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
Research of county councils recently further found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
According to the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, many participating urban areas were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“Although only one key city 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 highlights the scale of challenges confronting local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of deprivation and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the study revealed.
