Based on a new poll of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK stated that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group said that a significant number of authorities attempting to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and utilising savings to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to raise local levies next April to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority 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 temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures require time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
A survey of regional authorities recently further found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and adults needing Send support.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a white paper setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the extent of challenges confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions 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 found.
