Based on a recent poll of local authorities, UK councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Financial Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas 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 previously faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to shore up their finances, but they contend they must continue to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of holdings marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would focus on service redesigns and utilising financial reserves to weather growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Sales
One local authority in southeast England said its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of councils will have to raise local levies next spring to address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
Medway council said it will press ahead with property disposals after steep rises in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these require time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “We face population challenges which will persist 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 extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Forecasts
A survey of county councils recently further found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of young people and adults requiring special educational assistance.
A network of councils said that local shortfalls will hit 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Deprivation and Funding Shortfalls
According to the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) for UK local authorities, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like several major towns rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the study.
“While only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data underscores the scale of challenges confronting municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the analysis added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that reflects and responds to the actual extent of disadvantage and need,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, councils will continue to face impossible choices around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the study revealed.
