According to a recent survey of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in England stated that 60% of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have previously come under fire for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of councils attempting to raise money from a fire sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and utilising savings to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Fiscal Strains
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of authorities will have to raise council taxes next spring to address the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these require time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Projections
Research of county councils recently further found local finances being stretched by the growing number of young people and older individuals requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a policy document setting out those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial 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 several major towns place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures underscores the scale of challenges facing municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of deprivation and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the survey revealed.
