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According to a latest study of local authorities, English councils are preparing to offload community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.

Growing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales

A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are intending to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.

Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of public land and land to support their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.

This coalition said that a high proportion of authorities seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”

Detailed Examples of Planned Sales

One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.

• Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be sold under the plan.

Council Tax Increases and Wider Financial Pressures

This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise council taxes next April to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.

The authority said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.

“We are taking creative strategies but some of these require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.

He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”

National Trends and Projections

A survey of county councils recently further found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of young people and adults needing special educational assistance.

A network of councils said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.

Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms has been postponed.

Disadvantage and Financial Gaps

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

• “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.

“Although only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the scale of challenges confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.

“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” said Michael Mordey.

“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”

One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the study revealed.