According to a recent survey of municipal councils, UK councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to sell assets to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for selling public land and open spaces to support their budgets, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a significant number of authorities attempting to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials said they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Disposals
One local authority in southeast England said its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in another town to generate £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks held in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to raise local levies next spring to address the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
A survey of regional authorities recently also found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of children and older individuals requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, many 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,” said the study.
“Although only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the study revealed.
