According to a new poll of local authorities, UK councils are planning to sell community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for major urban areas in England stated that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for selling playing fields and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group said that a significant number of councils attempting to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to manage increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will also be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Broader Financial Pressures
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to increase council taxes next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but some of these require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “We face population challenges which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of regional authorities this week further found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and older individuals needing Send support.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have delayed scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until next year after a policy document setting out those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
According to the latest deprivation measures (IMD) covering UK local authorities, several key cities members were among the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.
“Although only one key city is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the extent of challenges confronting local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated a council leader.
“Lacking this, councils will persist to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of local authorities have cut or compromised social care provision in the last year, the survey revealed.
