Based on a recent survey of local authorities, UK councils are planning to sell community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past come under fire for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group noted that a significant number of councils seeking to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials said they would prioritise service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Sales
One local authority in Kent said its property management strategy included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Strains
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of authorities will have to increase local levies next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council said it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these require time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
Research of regional authorities this week also found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a white paper outlining those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) covering English councils, many key cities members were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“While only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data highlights the scale of difficulties confronting municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the study revealed.
