Based on a recent survey of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England 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 in the past come under fire for selling playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, 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 councils seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in Rochester to generate £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Fiscal Strains
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of authorities will have to increase local levies next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures require time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Projections
A survey of regional authorities recently further found local finances being stretched by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a white paper outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) for English councils, many participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“Although only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data highlights the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the study found.
