According to a new survey of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK reported that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would focus on restructuring services and utilising savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise local levies next spring to address the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He added: “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 central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Projections
Research of regional authorities recently also found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a white paper setting out those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) for English councils, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“Although only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data underscores the scale of difficulties confronting local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and responds to the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.
