According to a new survey of municipal councils, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK stated that 60% of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for disposing of public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a quick 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 using financial reserves to weather growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy included the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of councils will need to increase council taxes next April to address the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
Research of county councils this week also found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and adults requiring Send support.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, many key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data highlights the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the study found.
