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According to a new survey of local authorities, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.

Increasing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales

A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK stated that six out of ten of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.

Councils have in the past faced criticism for selling public land and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.

The group noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage growing fiscal pressures.”

Detailed Cases of Planned Sales

One local authority in Kent said its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over five years.

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

Local Levy Rises and Wider Fiscal Pressures

This research of councils in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise local levies next April to cover the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.

The authority said it will proceed 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 innovative approaches but certain measures require time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” said a council leader.

He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”

National Patterns and Forecasts

Research of county councils recently also found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and adults needing special educational assistance.

A network of councils said that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.

Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.

Disadvantage and Funding Gaps

According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) for UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.

• “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.

“Although only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the scale of difficulties facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.

“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said Michael Mordey.

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

A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.