According to a new poll of municipal councils, UK councils are preparing to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of public land and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group said that a high proportion of councils attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in another town to generate £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Pressures
This research of councils in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to increase council taxes next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council said it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities this week further found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a policy document setting out those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“Although only a single urban area is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.
