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According to a new study of municipal councils, English councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.

Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.

Councils have previously come under fire for disposing of public land and land to support their budgets, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.

This coalition noted that a high proportion of authorities attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”

Detailed Cases of Proposed Sales

One local authority in southeast England said its property management strategy included the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.

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

Council Tax Increases and Wider Fiscal Strains

This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will need to increase local levies next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.

Medway council said it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, 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 cost efficiency,” said a council leader.

He continued: “We face population challenges which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”

Countrywide Trends and Forecasts

Research of regional authorities this week further 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 2029, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.

Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a white paper setting out those changes was recently delayed.

Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls

According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) for English councils, several key cities members were included in the most deprived in England.

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

“Although only one key city is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the extent of challenges facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.

“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said Michael Mordey.

“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”

One in five of councils have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the survey revealed.