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Based on a recent poll of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.

Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales

A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of councils are intending to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.

Councils have previously come under fire for disposing of public land and land to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.

The group noted that a significant number of councils attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”

Specific Cases of Proposed Sales

One local authority in southeast England announced its property management strategy included the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.

• A local golf course and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be sold under the plan.

Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures

The survey of councils in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will need to increase council taxes next April to address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.

The authority explained it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.

“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” stated a council leader.

He added: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”

National Trends and Forecasts

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

The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage increased demand.

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

Deprivation and Financial Gaps

Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in the country.

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

“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data highlights the extent of difficulties confronting local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.

“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and need,” stated a council leader.

“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”

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