Based on a recent study of municipal councils, UK councils are preparing to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for selling public land and open spaces to support their finances, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group noted that a significant number of authorities seeking to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders stated they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in Kent said its property management strategy included the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to increase council taxes next spring to address the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of regional authorities this week also found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
According to the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“While only one key city is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the scale of difficulties facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.
