Based on a recent poll of local authorities, UK councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in the UK reported that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have previously come under fire for disposing of public land and open spaces to support their finances, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group said that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a fire sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would focus on service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its property management strategy included the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Fiscal Strains
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise council taxes next April to address the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these take time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Projections
Research of regional authorities recently further found council budgets being strained by the growing number of young people and adults requiring Send support.
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 increased demand.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a white paper setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“Although only one key city is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data underscores the extent of challenges confronting local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the study found.
