According to a new study of local authorities, UK councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in the UK stated that 60% of local authorities are planning to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials said they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising savings to manage growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples 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 Rochester to generate 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase local levies next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Projections
Research of county councils this week also found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of children and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
According to the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, many participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“While only one key city is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the extent of challenges facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of deprivation and demand,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
