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According to a recent study of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.

Increasing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales

A coalition of councils for major urban areas 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.

Local governments have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.

This coalition said that a high proportion of authorities attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials stated they would focus on restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”

Detailed Cases of Planned Sales

Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan featured the disposal 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 held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.

Local Levy Rises and Broader Financial Pressures

The survey of councils in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will need to increase council taxes next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.

Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.

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

He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”

National Patterns and Forecasts

A survey of regional authorities this week further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals requiring Send support.

The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage increased demand.

Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper outlining those reforms was recently delayed.

Deprivation and Funding Gaps

Based on the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) for English councils, many key cities members were included in the most deprived in the country.

• “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.

“Although only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the extent of challenges confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis added.

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

“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”

A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the study found.