According to a new poll of municipal councils, UK councils are planning to sell community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in the UK stated that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for selling playing fields and land to support their budgets, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group said that a significant number of councils seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in another town to raise 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of councils will need to raise council taxes next April to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures require time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “We face population challenges which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities this week further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of young people and adults requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
According to the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) covering UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“Although only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. 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 explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and need,” said a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
