According to a new study of municipal councils, UK councils are preparing to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England stated that 60% of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and land to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group said that a high proportion of authorities attempting to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of municipal officials said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Planned Sales
Medway Council in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Fiscal Pressures
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase local levies next April to cover the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures take time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He added: “There are population challenges which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of county councils recently also found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Gaps
According to the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) for English councils, several participating urban areas were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the extent of challenges facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and need,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the study revealed.
