English Councils Intend to Dispose of Community Hubs and Leisure Facilities to Manage Finances

According to a latest survey of municipal councils, English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.

Increasing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales

A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK stated that six out of ten of councils are intending to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.

Local governments have in the past come under fire for disposing of playing fields and land to support their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.

This coalition said that a significant number of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”

Specific Cases of Proposed Sales

One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.

• A local golf course and business parks owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.

Local Levy Increases and Broader Fiscal Pressures

The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase council taxes next April to address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.

Medway council said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.

“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.

He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”

National Trends and Projections

A survey of regional authorities recently also found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of young people and adults requiring Send support.

The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.

Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a policy document setting out those reforms was recently delayed.

Deprivation and Financial Gaps

According to the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several key cities members were included in the most deprived in the country.

• “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.

“Although only one key city is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures underscores the scale of challenges confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report added.

“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and need,” said a council leader.

“Without this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”

A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.