According to a new poll of local authorities, UK councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England reported that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets 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 argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in Kent said its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in another town to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Strains
The survey of councils in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of councils will need to increase council taxes next April to address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures take time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He added: “We face population challenges which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Forecasts
A survey of county councils recently further found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of children and adults 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 grapple to manage rising needs.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
According to the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were among the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“While 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 the nation. The figures highlights the scale of challenges confronting local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the study revealed.
