Based on a new survey of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in the UK stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past come under fire for disposing of playing fields and land to support their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group noted that a significant number of authorities seeking to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials said they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase local levies next spring to address the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority explained it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils this week also found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of children and older individuals requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, several key cities members were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.
“Although only one key city is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the scale of difficulties confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and need,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the study revealed.