According to a recent poll of municipal councils, UK councils are preparing to sell community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and using savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Financial Strains
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase council taxes next April to address the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking creative strategies but some of these take time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to add to the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
Research of county councils this week further found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of children and older individuals requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
According to the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, several participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“Although only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived 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 facing local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the real levels of deprivation and need,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, local authorities will persist to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
