According to a recent poll of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to cover 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 continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group noted that a significant number of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England announced its property management strategy included the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Strains
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of authorities will need to raise local levies next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council said it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He added: “We face population challenges which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Projections
Research of county councils this week also found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of children and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were among the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.
“While only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
