Based on a new survey of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing major urban areas in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously come under fire for disposing of public land and land to support their finances, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England announced its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in another town to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Pressures
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, also found that over seven in ten of authorities will need to raise council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these take time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant 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 children and adults requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper setting out those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) for UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“While only a single urban area is in the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the worst-off 20% of the nation. The data underscores the extent of challenges confronting municipal officials across key cities in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the study found.
