Based on a new study of municipal councils, UK councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a fire sale of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in the UK reported that 60% of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have previously come under fire for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a high proportion of councils seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would focus on service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in Kent announced its property management strategy included the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will need to increase local levies next spring to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures take time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “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 revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Projections
Research of regional authorities recently also found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of young people and adults requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a policy document setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
According to the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, many key cities members were among the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“While only one key city is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the scale of difficulties confronting local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the study revealed.
