Based on a latest survey of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Growing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in England stated that 60% of local authorities are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash 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 holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Fiscal Strains
This research of councils in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of authorities will need to increase local levies next spring to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will proceed with asset sales 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 some of these take time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He added: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Projections
Research of regional authorities this week also found council budgets being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. 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 necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and responds to the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the study revealed.
