According to a new survey of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of councils 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 disposing of playing fields and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a fire sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Sales
Medway Council in southeast England announced its property management strategy included the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Financial Pressures
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase council taxes next April 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 steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these take time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “There are population challenges which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils recently further found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals requiring Send support.
A network of councils said that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, many participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“Although only one key city is among 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 difficulties facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the study found.
