Based on a latest poll of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to offload social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England stated that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously come under fire for selling playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils 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 prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase council taxes next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will press ahead 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 taking innovative approaches but certain measures take time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Forecasts
Research of county councils recently also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and adults requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
According to the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, several key cities members were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“Although only one key city is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the extent of challenges facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.
