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According to a recent survey of local authorities, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.

Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales

A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in England reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.

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

The group noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”

Detailed Examples of Planned Sales

One local authority in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham 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 additionally be sold under the strategy.

Local Levy Rises and Broader Financial Strains

The survey of councils in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to raise local levies next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.

The authority said it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.

“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these require time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” said a council leader.

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

Countrywide Trends and Projections

Research of county councils this week also found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.

The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.

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

Disadvantage and Funding Gaps

Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering 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 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.

“While only a single urban area is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the extent of challenges confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report concluded.

“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.

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

A fifth of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.