According to a new survey of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK stated that six out of ten of councils are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and land to support their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a high proportion of authorities attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England announced its property management strategy included the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate £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 sold under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Fiscal Strains
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise local levies next spring to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority explained it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
Research of county councils this week also found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals needing Send support.
A network of councils said that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“Although only one key city is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures highlights the extent of challenges confronting local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
