Based on a recent poll of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to offload social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to sell assets to cover the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on restructuring services and utilising savings to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Fiscal Strains
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase council taxes next spring to cover the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Projections
A survey of regional authorities recently further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and adults needing Send support.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“While only a single urban area is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures highlights the scale of challenges confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and responds to the real levels of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
