According to a new survey of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas 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.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for selling playing fields and land to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in another town to raise 20 million pounds over five years.
- A local golf course and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of councils will need to raise council taxes next April to cover the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures require time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities recently further found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, many key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“Although only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the extent of difficulties confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
