According to a latest study of local authorities, UK councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England stated that 60% of councils are planning to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group said that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of municipal officials said they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to weather growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in another town to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Fiscal Pressures
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to raise local levies next spring to address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of county councils recently further found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children 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 delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
According to the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“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 most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Council officials 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 Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
