Based on a recent study of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for major urban areas in England reported that 60% of councils are intending to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for disposing of public land and open spaces to support their finances, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group noted that a significant number of councils attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in southeast England announced its property management strategy included the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Pressures
This research of councils in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will proceed with asset sales 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 creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils recently also found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties confronting local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the study found.
