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According to a new survey of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.

Growing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales

The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in England reported that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.

Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling public land and land to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.

The group said that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would focus on service redesigns and using savings to manage increasing financial challenges.”

Specific Examples of Planned Sales

One local authority in southeast England said its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.

• A local golf course and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be sold under the strategy.

Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures

The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of authorities will have to increase council taxes next spring to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.

The authority said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.

“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” said a council leader.

He added: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”

Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts

Research of county councils recently also found local finances being strained by the growing number of young people and adults needing Send support.

A network of councils said that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage increased demand.

Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a white paper setting out those reforms was recently delayed.

Disadvantage and Financial Gaps

According to the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) 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 IMD measures,” noted the study.

“While only one key city is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data highlights the scale of challenges facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.

“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and need,” said Michael Mordey.

“Without this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”

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