According to a recent poll of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK stated that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for disposing of public land and open spaces to support their finances, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a significant number of authorities attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Financial Strains
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to raise local levies next spring to address the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises 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 achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils recently also found council budgets being strained 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 struggle to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) for English councils, several key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the study found.
