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

Growing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in the UK stated that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.

Local governments have previously faced criticism for selling public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.

This coalition noted that a significant number of councils seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise restructuring services and using savings to weather growing financial challenges.”

Specific Examples of Planned Sales

One local authority in Kent said its property management strategy included the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.

• Gillingham golf club and business parks held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.

Council Tax Increases and Wider Financial Strains

The survey of councils in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of councils will need to raise local levies next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.

Medway council said it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.

“We are taking creative strategies but some of these require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.

He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will continue 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 very challenging.”

National Patterns and Forecasts

A survey of regional authorities this week further found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and adults requiring Send support.

A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.

Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those changes was recently delayed.

Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls

Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (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 place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.

“Although only one key city is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report concluded.

“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.

“Without this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”

A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the study revealed.