Based on a recent study of local authorities, UK councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in England stated that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of public land and open spaces to support their budgets, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a high proportion of councils attempting to generate funds 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 manage increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise 20 million pounds 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 plan.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Fiscal Strains
The survey of councils in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase local levies next spring to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
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, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase 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.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
Research of county councils this week further found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of young people and adults needing Send support.
A network of councils said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a white paper setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several key cities members were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“While only a single urban area is in 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 scale 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 funding system that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the survey found.
