According to a recent poll of municipal councils, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in the UK reported that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously come under fire for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a high proportion of councils attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to raise 20 million pounds over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of authorities will need to raise local levies next April to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these require time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Forecasts
Research of county councils recently also found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of young people and adults needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a white paper setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
Based on 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.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“While only one key city is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures underscores the extent of challenges confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the study found.
