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According to a latest poll of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, 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 second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.

Councils have in the past come under fire for disposing of public land and land to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.

This coalition said that a high proportion of authorities attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”

Specific Cases of Proposed Disposals

Medway Council in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over five years.

• A local golf course and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.

Council Tax Rises and Wider Fiscal Pressures

The survey of councils in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase council taxes next April to address the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.

The authority said it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.

“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.

He continued: “We face population challenges which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”

Countrywide Trends and Projections

Research of county councils recently also found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and adults needing special educational assistance.

A network of councils said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.

Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a policy document setting out those reforms was recently delayed.

Disadvantage and Financial Gaps

Based on the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) covering English councils, many participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.

• “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.

“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties confronting local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.

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

“Without this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”

A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the study revealed.