Based on a new survey of municipal councils, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have previously faced criticism for selling playing fields and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group said that a high proportion of authorities attempting to raise money from a fire sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on restructuring services and utilising savings to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy included the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in another town to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase local levies next spring to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “We face population challenges which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant 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 older individuals requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, many key cities members were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“Although only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the survey found.
