According to a latest poll of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for major urban areas in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past come under fire for disposing of public land and open spaces to support their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would focus on restructuring services and utilising savings to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in Kent said its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Pressures
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase local levies next April to cover the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will press ahead 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 adopting innovative approaches but some of these require time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” 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 revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
Research of county councils this week further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
According to the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) for UK local authorities, several key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“While only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
