Based on a new survey of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of properties to stabilize finances.
Growing Financial Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in England stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and land to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition noted that a significant number of authorities attempting to generate funds from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to weather growing financial challenges.”
Detailed Cases of Planned Sales
One local authority in Kent said its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for Medway council, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Increases and Wider Financial Strains
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of authorities will need to raise council taxes next spring to cover the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures require time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils this week also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children and adults requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, several key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“While only a single urban area is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the extent of challenges confronting local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities 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 local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.
