According to a new study of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in the UK stated that 60% of councils are planning to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously come under fire for disposing of public land and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in another town to raise 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of authorities will have to increase council taxes next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these require time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Forecasts
Research of county councils recently also found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
According to the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, several participating urban areas 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 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“Although only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” said a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.
