Based on a recent poll of municipal councils, UK councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK stated that 60% of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group noted that a high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in another town to generate £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Fiscal Strains
This research of councils in the key cities group, which covers 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 growing cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures require time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He added: “There are population challenges which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities this week further found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a white paper setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
According to the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) covering English councils, several participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“While only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures highlights the extent of challenges facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.
