According to a new survey of local authorities, UK councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for major urban areas in the UK stated that six out of ten of councils are intending to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for disposing of playing fields and land to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of councils seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would focus on service redesigns and using savings to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Planned Disposals
One local authority in southeast England announced its property management strategy included the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club 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 disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to raise council taxes next spring to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “We face population challenges which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
A survey of county councils recently also found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a white paper setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
According to the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.
“While only one key city is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.