Based on a latest survey of local authorities, UK councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in England reported that 60% of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for selling playing fields and land to support their finances, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and using savings to weather growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in Kent announced its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Pressures
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to raise council taxes next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures require time to achieve both better provisions and financial savings,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Projections
A survey of county councils this week also found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, many participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data underscores the extent of difficulties confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
