According to a new study of municipal councils, UK councils are planning to offload 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
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to dispose of properties to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for selling playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they argue they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a significant number of councils attempting to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise restructuring services and utilising savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its property management strategy featured the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a community venue in Rochester to generate 20 million pounds over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for the authority, will additionally be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Financial Pressures
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of authorities will need to raise council taxes next April to address the rising cost of essential services, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
Medway council explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are taking innovative approaches but certain measures require time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He continued: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our revenue support grant from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
National Patterns and Projections
A survey of county councils recently also found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of young people and adults requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to cope with rising needs.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a policy document setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, many key cities members were among the most deprived in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures highlights the extent of challenges confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of disadvantage and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will persist to face impossible choices around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to cut, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the survey found.
