Based on a new survey of local authorities, UK councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of properties to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK reported that 60% of local authorities are planning to dispose of properties to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously faced criticism for disposing of public land and open spaces to support their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils attempting to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to weather increasing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Planned Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to generate 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Strains
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase local levies next spring to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council said it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He added: “We face demographic pressures 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 over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of county councils this week also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and older individuals needing Send support.
A network of councils said that council deficits will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for English councils, several key cities members were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data highlights the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the last year, the study found.
