According to a new study of local authorities, UK councils are planning to sell community centers, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England stated that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously come under fire for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in Kent said its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in another town to raise 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Fiscal Strains
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of authorities will need to raise local levies next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these require time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “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 central funding from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
Research of regional authorities this week also found local finances being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have delayed scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, many key cities members were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities 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 coming year,” the analysis concluded.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and addresses the real levels of deprivation and need,” said a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.
