Based on a recent poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in the UK stated that six out of ten of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for selling playing fields and land to support their budgets, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would focus on restructuring services and utilising savings to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Disposals
One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Fiscal Strains
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Projections
Research of regional authorities this week also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children and older individuals needing Send support.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.
“Although only a single urban area is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data highlights the scale of difficulties confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of deprivation and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the study found.
