Based on a recent poll of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to offload social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a fire sale of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in England reported that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have previously come under fire for selling playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would prioritise service redesigns and utilising savings to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy included the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to generate £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Strains
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, further found that more than 70% of authorities will need to increase council taxes next April to cover the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
Research of county councils this week further found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and adults needing Send support.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) 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 rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“While only one key city is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The data underscores the scale of challenges facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the survey revealed.
