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Councils must publish lists of their assets to show which ones can be sold instead of cutting services, the government says.
The coalition has produced a map of buildings and facilities belonging to 87 councils in England.
Among them are restaurants, pubs, golf courses, stadiums and an airport.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles urged a "good hard look" at assets. But the Local Government Association said councils were saving "millions".
The publication of the map follows several disputes between Whitehall and town halls about the impact of spending cuts outlined since the coalition came to power last year.
Manchester City Council was the highest-profile critic, arguing that the £109m reduction in its budget was "ideologically motivated".
But the government says it and other local authorities need to do more to cut waste.
The map shows more than 180,000 assets owned by almost 600 public sector bodies, including central government and councils.
Public sector assets are worth an estimated £385bn, with almost two thirds owned by councils, the Department for Communities and Local Government said.
Among the items on the map are 40 hotels, around 20 cinemas and one airport, in Southend, Essex.
Nearly 100 golf courses are shown, along with almost 30 sports stadiums, including those used by Swindon Rugby Club, Swindon Town Football club and Aldershot Football Club, and one sailing club.
Mr Pickles said: "We need to know, now more than ever, exactly what assets are publicly owned. The general public probably have no idea of the sheer scale and scope of property and land on the public sector's books. In many cases it goes way beyond traditional frontline services.
"I want the public sector to take a good hard look at what they own. By cataloguing each and every asset councils can help government find innovative new ways to utilise them, improve local services, keep council running costs down and save taxpayers' money."
For Labour, shadow local government minister Jack Dromey said: "Councils have a duty to tackle waste and ensure the assets they hold deliver the best value for money for local people.
"However, nothing should deflect from the fact that the size and speed of the Tory-led government's decision to hit councils with deliberately frontloaded cuts has seen front-line services lost, cuts to charities and the voluntary sector and local jobs lost."
Under current rules, revenue generated from the sale of council assets cannot go into running front-line services or paying wages.
Peter Fleming, chairman of the Local Government Association's improvement board, said: "Local authorities are saving millions of pounds through smarter use of their assets.
"This includes gathering different council services together under the one roof to reduce building management costs and sharing space with other councils, public bodies and the voluntary sector."
He added: "The key issue remains that if the public sector is to find really big savings then Whitehall has to look at its own assets.
"Government agencies and the NHS must stop working in isolation and start sharing office space with each other and local authorities."
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Minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude revealed a £90 million reduction in the on-going cost of our Property estate has been achieved by exerting better control over lease renewals.
Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office said,
"We promised to drive out inefficiency and unjustifiable costs in central government. It is these savings, which have been achieved in just ten months, that have allowed departments to protect essential front line services and jobs. Following an independent audit, I can confirm today that these measures have saved central government departments £3.75 billion. That’s £3.75 billion of tax-payers money that would have been frittered away: on renting buildings that just weren’t necessary; on advertising government projects to the very tax payers that are paying for them.
"But this is just scratching the surface of what we have planned for the coming months and years. We will continue to seek out, and eradicate waste in government, whilst also delivering longer term programmes of reform to ensure sustainable change and room for growth across the public sector.”
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Councils are working to save tens of millions of pounds and reduce the impact of cuts to their budgets on frontline services through the smarter use of capital assets like town halls, depots and education facilities, an online map shows.
The initial results of the joint LG Group/Department for Communities and Local Government Capital and Assets Programme (CAP) show how eleven local authorities are planning to consolidate their own assets and team up with other parts of the public sector, including police, fire authorities and the NHS, to improve service for residents while reducing the cost of maintaining assets and delivering services.
Examples of new approaches to managing public assets have been compiled in a nation-wide interactive map, which is now available online. The map demonstrates how local authorities are working on their own and with other parts of the public sector to reduce overheads through better asset use.
Cllr David Parsons, Chairman of the LGA's Improvement Board, said: "Local authorities are widely recognised as the most efficient part of the public sector. In response to cuts to their budgets they have taken steps to find new ways to save money to minimise the impact on frontline services. The CAP report provides graphic evidence of the kind of measures being replicated in local areas right across the country. The size of cuts to council funding are too big to make up through efficiency measures alone but councils have responded well, recording £1.6 billion in savings last year by sharing services and improving procurement.
"Not every council asset represents an opportunity to make savings. Some generate valuable ongoing income. Others like parks, sports facilities and cemeteries cost money but provide essential services to local communities. Many opportunities are available though and councils are using their local knowledge to lead the way, not only saving millions by consolidating their own assets but helping other local and national service providers to spend public money more efficiently.
"Local authorities can only go so far on their own. We need all Government departments to tear down the silos and give local areas more financial autonomy so that councils and other service providers can be linked up to save money and make services better and more convenient for residents."
Among the opportunities identified by the CAP pilot project
Worcestershire County Council found there are approximately 39 buildings within Worcestershire that are used by public sector partner organisations in the delivery of training and conference activities. These are now being reviewed in order to rationalise and ensure better use.
Cambridgeshire County Council is looking to link up the local public sector and share assets to save money and reduce carbon emissions. Early investigations suggest that savings of up to £200 million over the next ten years might be possible across the county's entire public sector.
In Hampshire, initial business cases for two specific areas demonstrated area reductions of 36% were achievable from a selection of public assets when considered collectively, leading to 50% reductions in running costs. Partners are now looking at innovative governance arrangements to implement this approach and extend it to other areas within the county.
The first year of CAP was a joint project overseen by the Local Government Group in partnership with the Department for Communities and Local Government. The second phase will be wholly owned by the LG Group, which is looking for 12 new "pathfinder" local authorities to explore and demonstrate innovative ways to save money and improve services through better use of public sector capital assets.
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The Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, speaking at a conference on the 19th July, has announced £22 billion of investment in Government construction projects over the next three years, confounding expectations that construction funding would be slashed.
The figures will be confirmed later in the autumn, along with further details on exactly where the money will be invested.
Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, said:
“The “Government’s Construction Strategy” is reducing costs by up to 20% by reforming the way we procure construction projects across all sectors. However, we are still investing billions of pounds annually; with the same money we will procure more schools, hospitals, courts and prisons. Despite an incredibly difficult economic climate we are investing in and prioritizing our construction industry.”
“The Government and the construction industry have a shared obligation to cut waste and find new and better ways of doing business. This is especially important when we are talking about creating first class, modern, fully functioning public service delivery buildings like hospitals and schools."
Government will help the construction industry better plan and prepare for projects by publishing a full pipeline of projects from the autumn. This has never been done previously, but is part of a new drive by the Cabinet Office to run government in a more transparent and businesslike manner.
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UK Planning minister Greg Clark has said that red tape stopping empty properties being converted for alternative use at short notice should be scrapped.
The proposal comes as part of the government’s wider review of the use class system and would allow landlords to convert a property for an alternative without going through the planning system.
Clark said the government was looking at ways to make it easier to get vacant buildings back up and running. It is considering the idea of removing the need for planning permission to temporarily change the use of empty buildings.
The idea is part of a wider review being carried out into planning policy, set to report next year, and Clark said the idea was to look at expanding the “meanwhile uses” of empty buildings.
The Use Class Order review, which is looking at lifting planning permission to bring empty properties back into use, is being carried out by the Communities & Local Government deparment and the Department for Business, Innovation& Skills.
Clark said, “Empty properties can drain the life away from town centres and are a waste of a valuable social and economic resource.
“We want to make it easier for businesses and community enterprises to reanimate vacant spaces, helping to revive struggling high streets and kick-start local growth.
“Removing bureaucratic barriers in the planning system could play a major part in encouraging meanwhile uses of empty buildings, transforming them into new shops, business start-ups and community projects,” he said
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Southern Cross said today that its business was to be broken up and wound down in a consensual process that will see its homes transferred to new operators.
The beleaguered care home operator said that discussions with its landlords were well advanced and that it was close to finalising a restructuring plan.
The portfolios of landlords who are also operators, such as Four Seasons, will be handed over to these landlords and they will begin to undertake their operation. Around 250 of Southern Cross’ 750 homes fall into this bracket.
Landlords on the other 500 homes are working on plans to bring in new operators, which are yet to be formalised.
Southern Cross said it would continue to manage the homes during the transition process, and that care for residents would be unaffected. But it means that the company will cease to operate, and that shareholders in a company with a market capitalisation of £432m when it floated in 2006 will essentially receive nothing.
Southern Cross chairman Christopher Fisher said: “”We are now able to begin clarifying the arrangements for the future operation of our homes. The process of change on which we are now embarking involves considerable effort on the part of our management and staff and their commitment and loyalty is much appreciated.
“We anticipate that the period of uncertainty which we have been experiencing will now draw to a close. We regret the loss of value which shareholders have experienced.”
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Ministers said the plans could create up to 100,000 homes and 25,000 jobs during the next four years.
Locations include a former hospital at Fairmile in Oxfordshire, New Covent Garden Market, south London, and three Ministry of Defence sites in Bath.
Labour said the announcement was "unlikely to address the shortage of affordable homes across the country". Labour says there are questions about whether people will want to live where this land is, and whether the sell-off will result in homes that are high-quality and affordable.
Local councils will also be encouraged to make their unused land available for development.
The DCLG has outlined a "build now, pay later" deal, through which developers pay for the land only once building work has started.
Departments have been told to publish their plans by the autumn.
Redevelopment has already started at Fairmile, a 40-hectare site which was owned by the Homes and Communities Agency next to the River Thames in Cholsey.
New Covent Garden Market is a 57-acre site, part of the Nine Elms Opportunity Area, in the borough of Wandsworth.
The Ministry of Defence sites at Foxhill, Warminster Road and Ensleigh in Bath are freed-up offices totalling an area of 36 hectares.
Housing Minister Grant Shapps said: "As one of the country's biggest landlords, the government has a critical role to play in making sites available for developers so we can get the homes this country needs built.
"I can confirm an ambitious challenge across government to release enough land from Whitehall's grip for 100,000 new homes across the country.
"Over the coming months, property specialists will work to make sure no stone is left unturned and no site is left unused, and every department's plans will come under the close scrutiny of a cabinet committee."
He added: "It is now for developers to come forward, make the most of this unique opportunity and HELP contribute to our countrywide efforts to help get the homes this country needs built."
A "community right to reclaim land" was introduced earlier this year allowing people to apply to organisations, including central and local government, to bring sites back into use.
Shadow housing minister Alison Seabeck said: "If this is simply about selling land at market prices with no conditions there is a real danger it won't work.
"We need more affordable housing in this country, but with recent figures showing a further fall in new housing projects it's clear the Tory-led government has no workable plan to deliver them."
She added: "There will be questions about where this land will be, and whether it will be in areas where people want to live or where there is a need for new housing.
"And less than a year after the government cut funding for new affordable housing by 60%, it is unclear whether these homes will be affordable to young working families who want somewhere of their own to live."
The Home Builders Federation (HBF) welcomed the announcement as a "first step towards increasing desperately needed housing supply".
HBF executive chairman Stewart Baseley said: "Alongside the lack of mortgage availability, a lack of viable, developable land with planning permission has been the most significant long term constraint on housing supply.
"Increasing housing supply will tackle our housing crisis and create thousands of jobs, providing huge social and economic benefits across the country."
The Town and Country Planning Association estimated government and council land was worth about £10bn, and raised concern it would be sold to the highest bidder rather than to developers who could deliver a large amount of high-quality social housing.
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The man in charge of reducing government waste has said £2bn has already been saved through better use of property, procurement and IT.
Ian Watmore told MPs that efforts to save £3bn this year by making Whitehall work more efficiently were on course.
The drive would ensure money was spent where it was most needed and frontline services were not being hit, he told the Public Administration Committee.
Mr Watmore is head of the Efficiency and Reform Group, established to make savings across Whitehall by eliminating duplication and getting a better deal for taxpayers from government spending.
In December, the Cabinet Office said £1bn had already been saved since the coalition came to power, half of this from a freeze on recruitment and marketing as well as spending on consultants, IT projects and property.
Appearing before MPs, Mr Watmore said this figure had now risen to more than £2bn and he dismissed suggestions that "waste and fat" comprised some key services.
"We have property around the country that we don't need," he said, pointing out that leases of government occupied buildings were being renegotiated and unused premises abandoned.
"That is one way of reducing waste we have which has no direct impact on frontline services. If we can purchase goods and services more cheaply, then we will produce greater savings which will not impact on the frontline."
MPs have criticised government efforts to save money in several areas, saying the plans to abolish hundreds of quangos and merge others is ill-thought out and will not improve accountability.
Mr Watmore, a former head of the Football Association and head of the No 10 Delivery Unit under Gordon Brown, said the government efficiency drive would inevitably lead to greater centralisation in some areas as officials sought to "get to grips" with wasteful spending.
But he denied that this was in conflict with the government's localism or "big society" drive to encourage local communities to take greater responsibility and to make public services more accountable.
Citing Tuesday's publication of local crime maps in England, Mr Watmore said this demonstrated the government's determination to "allow local communities to take control of the agendas that affect them most".
But Labour MP Paul Flynn said the crime maps were a "gimmick" that would actually reinforce people's fear of crime and make life more difficult for the police.
"They are just about as productive as the cones hotline," he said.
But the top civil servant at the Home Office, Helen Ghosh, defended them, saying the government "owed" it the public to provide accurate information.
She also said she believed the maps would reduce fear of crime because many people would discover that crime in their area was actually "very low" - contrary to how it was often portrayed.
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