According to a latest poll of municipal councils, UK councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for major urban areas in the UK stated that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
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 proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a high proportion of councils attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and using savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced its property management strategy featured the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Fiscal Strains
This research of councils in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of authorities will need to raise council taxes next April to cover the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council said it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He added: “There are population challenges which will continue to add to 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 Projections
Research of county councils this week also found local finances being strained by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“Although only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure 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 essential services to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the survey revealed.
