According to a new poll of municipal councils, UK councils are planning to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in the UK reported that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to sell assets to cover the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have in the past come under fire for disposing of public land and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a significant number of councils attempting to raise money from a fire sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Financial Strains
This research of councils in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to raise local levies next spring to address the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will proceed with asset sales after sharp increases 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 deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils this week further found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
According to the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, many key cities members were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“While only a single urban area is among the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the scale of challenges confronting 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 financial structure that reflects and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the study found.
