According to a new survey of local authorities, English councils are preparing to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of public land and open spaces to support their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of authorities attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would focus on service redesigns and utilising savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Sales
Medway Council in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Strains
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to increase local levies next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities recently further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms 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 indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, several key cities members were among the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“While only one key city is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data highlights the extent of challenges confronting local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the study revealed.
