Based on a recent poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in England stated that 60% of councils are planning to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have in the past come under fire for disposing of playing fields and land to support their finances, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a high proportion of councils seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of councils in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise local levies next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils recently further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a white paper setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering English councils, many key cities members were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“Although only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the scale of challenges confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the study revealed.
