According to a recent survey of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of councils are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously come under fire for selling playing fields and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a significant number of authorities seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in Kent said its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in another town to generate 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal Strains
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will need to increase council taxes next April to address the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures require time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He added: “We face population challenges 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 very challenging.”
National Trends and Projections
Research of regional authorities recently also found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) covering English councils, many key cities members were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“Although only one key city is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the scale of challenges confronting local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and need,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.
