According to a latest study of municipal councils, UK councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in England stated that 60% of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have in the past come under fire for selling public land and open spaces to support their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of authorities attempting to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in Kent announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise local levies next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will proceed 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 adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “There are population challenges which will continue to increase 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.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
Research of county councils this week also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of young people and adults needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“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 difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of deprivation and need,” stated 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 detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the study found.
