Based on a new poll of municipal councils, UK councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and land to support their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group said that a high proportion of authorities attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials said they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Financial Pressures
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase council taxes next April to address the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of regional authorities recently further found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and adults requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, several key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“While only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data highlights the scale of difficulties confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the survey found.
