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Based on a recent poll of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.

Growing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales

A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK stated that six out of ten of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.

Local governments have previously come under fire for selling playing fields and land to support their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.

This coalition noted that a high proportion of authorities attempting to raise money from a fire sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising savings to manage growing fiscal pressures.”

Detailed Examples of Planned Sales

Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in another town to generate £20m over five years.

• Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be sold under the strategy.

Local Levy Rises and Broader Financial Strains

This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of authorities will have to increase council taxes next April to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.

Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.

“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.

He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”

National Patterns and Projections

A survey of regional authorities recently further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and adults requiring Send support.

The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage increased demand.

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

Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls

Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several participating urban areas were among the most deprived in the country.

• “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.

“While only a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures underscores the scale of challenges facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.

“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and addresses the real levels of deprivation and need,” said a council leader.

“Without this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”

A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the study found.