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According to a new study of local authorities, English councils are planning to offload community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.

Growing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales

A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.

Local governments have in the past come under fire for disposing of playing fields and land to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.

The group noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to raise money from a quick sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”

Detailed Examples of Planned Sales

Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.

• A local golf course and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the plan.

Local Levy Increases and Wider Financial Pressures

This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of authorities will need to raise council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.

Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.

“We are taking creative strategies but some of these require time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.

He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”

Countrywide Trends and Forecasts

A survey of regional authorities this week also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring Send support.

A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.

Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms has been postponed.

Disadvantage and Financial Gaps

Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.

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

“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the scale of difficulties facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.

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

“Without this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”

One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the study revealed.