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According to a new poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.

Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales

A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in the UK stated that 60% of local authorities are planning to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.

Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.

The group noted that a significant number of authorities seeking to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to weather growing financial challenges.”

Detailed Examples of Planned Sales

Medway Council in southeast England announced its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.

• A local golf course and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.

Council Tax Rises and Wider Financial Pressures

This research of local authorities in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to raise local levies next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.

Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.

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

He added: “There are population challenges which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”

Countrywide Patterns and Projections

Research of county councils this week also found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of children and older individuals requiring special educational assistance.

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

Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.

Deprivation and Financial Gaps

Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in England.

• “Member cities like several major towns place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.

“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures highlights the scale of challenges facing local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis added.

“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated Michael Mordey.

“Without this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”

One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the survey revealed.