According to a new poll of municipal councils, UK councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in England reported that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and land to support their finances, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a significant number of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials said they would prioritise restructuring services and using savings to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in another town to generate £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Fiscal Strains
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase council taxes next April to address the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will proceed 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 require time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils recently also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of young people and older individuals requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering English councils, several participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“While only a single urban area is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” said a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
