According to a latest survey of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have in the past come under fire for selling public land and land to support their finances, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and using financial reserves to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in Kent said its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Fiscal Strains
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of councils will need to increase council taxes next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these take time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities recently also found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of children and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a white paper setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, many key cities members were among the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“While only a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data highlights the extent of challenges facing municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.
