According to a latest poll of municipal councils, UK councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England stated that 60% of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past come under fire for selling public land and land to support their finances, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of authorities 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 using financial reserves to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to raise 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Financial Strains
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of authorities will need to raise local levies next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority explained it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures take time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Projections
A survey of county councils recently also found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a policy document setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
According to the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) covering English councils, several participating urban areas were among the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“While only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data highlights the extent of challenges facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and need,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.
