According to a latest poll of local authorities, UK councils are planning to offload community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they rely on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities in England reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have in the past come under fire for disposing of public land and land to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of holdings represented “a distinct shift from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would prioritise restructuring services and using financial reserves to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Sales
Medway Council in Kent said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a shopping centre in a local town and a community venue in another town to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will additionally be disposed of under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal Strains
This research of councils in the coalition, which covers several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise local levies next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority said it will press ahead with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures take time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Projections
Research of county councils this week also found local finances being strained by the growing number of children and older individuals needing Send support.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they grapple to cope with increased demand.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document setting out those changes has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
According to the latest indices of deprivation (IMD) covering English councils, many participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“Although only one key city is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.
