Based on a recent survey of municipal councils, UK councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in England reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for selling public land and land to shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Financial Pressures
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of authorities will have to increase council taxes next April to cover the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities this week also found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of young people and adults needing Send support.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, many participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“While only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures highlights the extent of challenges facing municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” 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 disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.
