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Based on a new study of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.

Growing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of councils are intending to dispose of properties to meet 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 budgets, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.

This coalition noted that a high proportion of authorities attempting to raise money from a fire sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to manage increasing financial challenges.”

Detailed Examples of Planned Disposals

One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.

• A local golf course and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be sold under the strategy.

Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Pressures

The survey of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to raise council taxes next April to address the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.

Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.

“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.

He added: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”

National Trends and Projections

Research of county councils recently also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing Send support.

A network of councils said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage increased demand.

Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms was recently delayed.

Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls

Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in England.

• “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.

“Although only one key city is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data highlights the extent of challenges facing local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.

“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and need,” stated a council leader.

“Without this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”

One in five of councils have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the study revealed.