Based on a new study of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to offload community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in England reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and land to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials said they would focus on service redesigns and using savings to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Planned Sales
One local authority in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Fiscal Strains
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to raise council taxes next spring to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Projections
A survey of regional authorities recently also found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a white paper setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, many key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“While only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data highlights the scale of challenges confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
