Based on a recent survey of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling public land and land to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group said that a significant number of authorities attempting to raise money from a fire sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on restructuring services and utilising savings to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in Kent announced its property management strategy included the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Financial Strains
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise local levies next April to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
Research of regional authorities this week also found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals requiring Send support.
A network of councils said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several key cities members were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and responds to the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the study found.
