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Based on a new poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to offload community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.

Growing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales

A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK stated that 60% of councils are planning to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.

Local governments have in the past come under fire for selling public land and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.

The group noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”

Specific Cases of Planned Sales

One local authority in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.

• Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.

Local Levy Increases and Wider Financial Pressures

The survey of councils in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise local levies next spring to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.

The authority explained it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.

“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.

He added: “There are population challenges which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”

National Patterns and Forecasts

Research of regional authorities recently further found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of children and older individuals requiring Send support.

A network of councils said that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage increased demand.

Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper outlining those changes has been postponed.

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.

• “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.

“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data highlights the scale of difficulties facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.

“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” said Michael Mordey.

“Without this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”

One in five of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.