According to a new poll of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in the UK stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and land to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group said that a significant number of councils seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising savings to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its property management strategy included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Strains
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of authorities will have to raise local levies next April to address the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures take time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of county councils this week further found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and adults needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
According to the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) covering English councils, many participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“Although only one key city is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the scale of challenges facing local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the study found.
