Based on a latest survey of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for major urban areas in England stated that 60% of local authorities are intending to sell assets to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously come under fire for selling public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to weather growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m 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 disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Financial Strains
This research of councils in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of authorities will have to raise council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “There are population challenges which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils this week also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and older individuals requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, several key cities members were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“Although only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the scale of challenges facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
