Based on a latest poll of municipal councils, UK councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for disposing of public land and land to support their finances, but they argue they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a significant number of councils attempting to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising savings to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in Kent said its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Pressures
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to increase council taxes next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Projections
A survey of county councils this week further found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, several key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“While only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data highlights the extent of challenges confronting municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.
