Based on a new survey of local authorities, UK councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in England reported that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have previously come under fire for selling public land and land to support their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Planned Sales
One local authority in Kent said its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in Rochester to raise 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of councils will need to raise local levies next spring to address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
Research of county councils this week further found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of children and older individuals requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a policy document setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, several key cities members were among the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“While only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties facing municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a equitable and lasting financial structure that reflects and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils 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 social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
