According to a recent poll of local authorities, UK councils are planning to offload community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Growing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of local authorities are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group noted that a significant number of councils attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and utilising savings to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in Kent announced its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Financial Pressures
This research of councils in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Projections
Research of county councils this week also found council budgets being strained by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the extent of challenges confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking 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 communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the study revealed.
