Based on a new survey of local authorities, UK councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for disposing of public land and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group said that a high proportion of councils seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to weather growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Financial Pressures
This research of councils in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to raise council taxes next April to address the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “We face population challenges which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of county councils this week further found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and adults needing Send support.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next 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, many participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“While only a single urban area is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data highlights the scale of challenges 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 equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the study revealed.
