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According to a recent study of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.

Growing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England stated that 60% of councils are planning to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.

Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.

This coalition noted that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage growing fiscal pressures.”

Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals

Medway Council in southeast England announced its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.

• A local golf course and business parks owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.

Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal Strains

The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to raise local levies next spring to address the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.

The authority said it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.

“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.

He added: “We face population challenges which will persist to add to the pressures 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 Patterns and Projections

A survey of regional authorities this week also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.

The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage rising needs.

Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper outlining those reforms was recently delayed.

Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls

According to the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, many participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in England.

• “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.

“Although only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.

“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and responds to the real levels of deprivation and need,” stated 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.”

One in five of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the study revealed.