According to a new study of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for selling playing fields and land to support their finances, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a high proportion of councils attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would focus on restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of councils will need to increase council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures take time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Forecasts
A survey of county councils recently also found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a policy document setting out those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
According to the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, many participating urban areas were among the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“Although only a single urban area is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the extent of challenges facing local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the actual extent 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 disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the study found.
