Based on a latest poll of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to offload community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in England reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for disposing of public land and land to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a significant number of authorities attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders stated they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in Rainham 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 strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Fiscal Pressures
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of councils will need to increase local levies next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority said it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures take time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He added: “There are population challenges which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Forecasts
A survey of county councils this week also found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and adults needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, many participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the survey found.
