Based on a new poll of municipal councils, UK councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past come under fire for selling playing fields and land to shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change 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 financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced 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.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, 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, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these take time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities this week also found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of children and older individuals requiring Send support.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“Although only one key city is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data highlights the scale of challenges confronting municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
