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According to a new study of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.

Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales

A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in England stated that 60% of councils are planning to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.

Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling public land and land to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.

This coalition said that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a fire sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising savings to weather growing fiscal pressures.”

Specific Examples of Planned Disposals

Medway Council in Kent said its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.

• Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the strategy.

Local Levy Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures

The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of councils will need to raise local levies next April to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.

Medway council explained it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.

“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures take time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.

He added: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”

Countrywide Trends and Forecasts

A survey of regional authorities recently also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals requiring Send support.

A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage increased demand.

Government officials have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.

Deprivation and Financial Gaps

According to the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, many participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in England.

• “Member cities like several major towns rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.

“While only one key city is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.

“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated a council leader.

“Without this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”

One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the study found.