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Based on a new study of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.

Growing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales

A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.

Local governments have in the past faced criticism for disposing of public land and land to support their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.

This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”

Specific Examples of Proposed Sales

One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.

• Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.

Council Tax Rises and Wider Fiscal Strains

The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to raise local levies next April to address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.

The authority explained it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.

“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these take time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.

He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”

Countrywide Trends and Projections

Research of regional authorities recently further found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring Send support.

A network of councils said that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.

Government officials have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.

Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls

Based on the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) for English councils, several participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in the country.

• “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.

“While only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures underscores the extent of challenges facing municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the report concluded.

“Council officials have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” stated a council leader.

“Without this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”

A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the study found.