According to a new survey of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures 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 adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group said that a significant number of councils seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in Rochester to generate 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Fiscal Pressures
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase local levies next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will persist 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 Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of county councils recently further found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and adults needing Send support.
The County Councils Network projected 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 planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“While only one key city is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures highlights the extent of challenges confronting local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.
