Based on a new poll of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England stated that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously come under fire for disposing of public land and open spaces to support their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of authorities attempting to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and using savings to manage growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in Rochester to generate 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Fiscal Strains
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of authorities will need to raise council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these require time to deliver both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Patterns and Projections
Research of county councils this week also found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of young people and adults needing Send support.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until next year after a white paper outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
According to the most recent deprivation measures (IMD) covering UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“Although only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data underscores the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” said a council leader.
“Lacking this, local authorities 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 reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the survey found.
