According to a latest study of local authorities, UK councils are planning to sell community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing second-tier cities in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are intending to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have previously faced criticism for selling playing fields and land to shore up their finances, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from asset sales or face insolvency.
The group noted that a significant number of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to weather growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
Medway Council in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan included the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to generate £20m over five years.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties owned in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be sold under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Strains
This research of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of authorities will need to increase local levies next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures require time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase 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 very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of county councils this week further found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of children and older individuals needing Send support.
A network of councils said that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage increased demand.
Ministers have put off scheduled changes to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a white paper setting out those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Funding Shortfalls
According to the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) for UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the report.
“Although only a single urban area is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The figures underscores the scale of challenges confronting municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Local government leaders have been clear about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and responds to the actual extent 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 residents.”
One in five of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
