Based on a new study of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Growing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group said that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a fire sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would focus on service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to weather growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
Medway Council in Kent said its property management strategy featured the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in another town to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase local levies next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority explained it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
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 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
A survey of county councils this week also found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
A network of councils projected 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.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the extent of difficulties confronting municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the survey found.
