According to a new survey of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of local authorities 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 public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group said that a high proportion of councils attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising savings to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in Kent said its property management strategy featured the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Fiscal Strains
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to increase local levies next spring to cover the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of county councils this week further found local finances being stretched by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“While only a single urban area is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data highlights the extent of challenges confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the survey found.
