According to a latest poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to offload social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously come under fire for selling playing fields and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would focus on service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to weather growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Financial Strains
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise local levies next April to cover the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these take time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He added: “We face population challenges which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of county councils recently also found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of children and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a policy document setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) for UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“While only a single urban area is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
