Based on a latest study of municipal councils, UK councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England reported that 60% of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have in the past come under fire for selling public land and land to support their finances, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group said that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and using financial reserves to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Planned Disposals
One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Financial Strains
The survey of councils in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will need to raise local levies next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will proceed with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures take time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Forecasts
A survey of county councils recently further found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“While only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the extent of challenges confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.