Based on a latest poll of local authorities, UK councils are planning to offload social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a significant number of authorities attempting to generate funds from a fire 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 utilising savings to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in Kent said its asset disposal plan included the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Pressures
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which covers several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise council taxes next April to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures require time to deliver both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Projections
Research of regional authorities recently also found council budgets being stretched by the growing number of children and older individuals needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document setting out those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Gaps
Based on the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering English councils, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“Although only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data underscores the scale of difficulties confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and addresses the real levels of deprivation and need,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.
