Based on a new study of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for selling public land and open spaces to support their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would focus on restructuring services and utilising savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Fiscal Strains
The survey of councils in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase council taxes next spring to address the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures take time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase 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 very challenging.”
National Patterns and Projections
A survey of regional authorities recently further found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of young people and adults needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
According to 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,” said the study.
“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 worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the scale of challenges facing local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
