🔗 Share this article

Based on a new study of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.

Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.

Councils have in the past come under fire for disposing of playing fields and land to shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.

The group noted that a significant number of councils seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage growing fiscal pressures.”

Specific Cases of Proposed Sales

Medway Council in Kent said its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in another town to raise 20 million pounds over five years.

• Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.

Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Pressures

This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of authorities will need to raise local levies next April to cover the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.

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, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.

“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.

He added: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”

National Trends and Forecasts

A survey of regional authorities this week further found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of children and adults requiring Send support.

The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage rising needs.

Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a white paper setting out those reforms was recently delayed.

Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls

Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering English councils, many key cities members were included in the most deprived in England.

• “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.

“While only one key city is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, 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 coming year,” the report concluded.

“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.

“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”

One in five of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.