Based on a new poll of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK stated that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have previously come under fire for disposing of public land and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a significant number of councils seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would focus on restructuring services and using savings to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Fiscal Strains
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to raise local levies next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority explained it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these take time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to increase 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 very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities this week further found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several key cities members were among the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“Although only a single urban area is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties confronting local leaders across major urban centers 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 real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.
