According to a new survey of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to offload community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for major urban areas in England reported that six out of ten of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and land to support their budgets, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group said that a high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a fire sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and using financial reserves to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Disposals
One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Strains
The survey of councils in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to increase council taxes next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises 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 achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities recently also found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“While only a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data highlights the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities 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 care services in the past 12 months, the study found.
