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Based on a latest survey of local authorities, English councils are preparing to offload social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.

Increasing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.

Local governments have in the past come under fire for selling public land and land to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.

The group said that a significant number of councils attempting to raise money from a fire sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to weather growing fiscal pressures.”

Detailed Cases of Planned Disposals

Medway Council in southeast England announced its property management strategy included the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.

• A local golf course and business parks held in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.

Local Levy Increases and Broader Financial Strains

The survey of councils in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise local levies next April to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.

The authority explained it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.

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

He added: “There are demographic pressures 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 over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”

Countrywide Trends and Forecasts

A survey of regional authorities recently further found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and adults requiring Send support.

The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage increased demand.

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

Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls

Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in England.

• “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.

“While only one key city is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials 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 demand,” stated a council leader.

“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”

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