According to a new survey of municipal councils, UK councils are preparing to offload community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in England reported that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the rising costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they contend they must proceed to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of authorities seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (60%) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and using financial reserves to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Wider Financial Strains
The survey of councils in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of councils will need to increase local levies next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
Medway council explained it will press ahead 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 certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and financial savings,” said a council leader.
He added: “There are demographic pressures which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Trends and Projections
Research of regional authorities this week also found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and adults requiring special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document setting out those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, many key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“Although only one key city is in the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data highlights the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the next twelve months,” the analysis concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of deprivation and need,” said a council leader.
“Without this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which essential services to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the study found.
