Based on a new poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for major urban areas in England stated that six out of ten of councils are intending to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for selling public land and land to support their budgets, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group said that a high proportion of authorities attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials said they would focus on restructuring services and utilising savings to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Strains
This research of councils in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will need to increase local levies next spring to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority said it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these require time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Projections
Research of county councils recently further found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and adults needing Send support.
A network of councils said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, several key cities members 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 one key city is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures highlights the scale of challenges facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the survey revealed.
