Based on a new study of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England reported that 60% of councils are planning to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past come under fire for disposing of public land and land to shore up their finances, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group said that a high proportion of councils seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials stated they would focus on restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in Kent announced its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of councils in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to raise council taxes next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of county councils this week also found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms 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 latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“While only a single urban area is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data underscores the extent of challenges facing local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the study found.
