Based on a latest poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to offload social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Growing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England reported that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously come under fire for selling playing fields and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group noted that a high proportion of councils 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 focus on restructuring services and utilising savings to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham 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 strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Financial Pressures
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to increase council taxes next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He added: “There are population challenges which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities recently also found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of children and older individuals needing Send support.
A network of councils said 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 next year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) for English councils, many key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.
