According to a new survey of municipal councils, 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.
Increasing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England reported that six out of ten of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for selling public land and open spaces to support their budgets, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a high proportion of authorities attempting to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and utilising savings to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Sales
One local authority in Kent said its property management strategy featured the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to raise council taxes next April to cover the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises 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 certain measures require time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “There are population challenges which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National 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 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 the coming year after a policy document setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
According to the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, many key cities members 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,” noted the study.
“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data underscores the scale of challenges facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
