Based on a new survey of municipal councils, UK councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK stated that 60% of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously come under fire for disposing of public land and open spaces to support their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group noted that a high proportion of authorities attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Sales
One local authority in Kent said its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Pressures
This research of councils in the key cities group, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of authorities will have to increase council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority explained it will proceed with asset sales 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 some of these require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities this week also found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of children and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a white paper setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) covering English councils, many participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“Although only a single urban area is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures underscores the extent of challenges confronting municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
