According to a latest poll of local authorities, UK councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK stated that 60% of local authorities are intending to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for selling public land and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a high proportion of authorities attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to raise 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Fiscal Strains
This research of councils in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to raise council taxes next April to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these require time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will continue to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Projections
Research of county councils recently also found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of children and adults needing Send support.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) for UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“While only a single urban area is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the extent of challenges confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of deprivation and need,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the survey revealed.
