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According to a latest study of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.

Increasing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in England stated that six out of ten of councils are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.

Local governments have in the past come under fire for disposing of public land and open spaces to support their finances, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.

The group said that a significant number of authorities seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders stated they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”

Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales

One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan featured the sale 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 two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be sold under the strategy.

Local Levy Increases and Wider Fiscal Strains

The survey of councils 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 spring to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.

Medway council said it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.

“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.

He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”

Countrywide Patterns and Projections

A survey of county councils this week also found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of children and adults needing Send support.

The County Councils Network said that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage increased demand.

Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a policy document setting out those reforms was recently delayed.

Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls

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

• “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.

“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.

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

“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”

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