According to a latest study of municipal councils, UK councils are preparing to offload community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England reported that 60% of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for selling public land and land to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
This coalition noted that a significant number of councils seeking 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 said they would prioritise service redesigns and using financial reserves to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Fiscal Pressures
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to raise local levies next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures require time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities recently further found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of children and adults needing Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a white paper outlining those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, many key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“Although only one key city is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures underscores the extent of difficulties confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the study revealed.
