According to a new survey of municipal councils, UK councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in the UK stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and land to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Fiscal Pressures
The survey of councils in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to increase local levies next spring to cover the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures take time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
A survey of regional authorities recently further found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of children and adults needing Send support.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering 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 place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The figures underscores the extent of challenges confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report added.
“Council officials have been clear about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.
