Based on a latest survey of local authorities, UK councils are planning to offload social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for major urban areas in the UK reported that six out of ten of local authorities are planning to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Councils have in the past come under fire for selling playing fields and open spaces to support their budgets, but they argue they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or face insolvency.
This coalition said that a high proportion of authorities seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials said they would focus on restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Specific Cases of Proposed Sales
Medway Council in Kent announced its property management strategy included the sale of a retail complex in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to generate £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks owned in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that more than 70% of councils will have to raise council taxes next April to cover the growing cost of core provisions, increased rates of housing insecurity, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
The authority said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting creative strategies but certain measures take time to deliver both better provisions and financial savings,” stated Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are demographic pressures which will continue to increase the pressures we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of county councils this week also found council budgets being strained by the increasing figures of children and adults needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network projected that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to cope with increased demand.
Government officials have put off scheduled changes 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 most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, several key cities members were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the study.
“While only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the scale of difficulties facing local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.
“Local government leaders have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and responds to the real levels of disadvantage and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to reduce, to the detriment of their communities.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened care services in the past 12 months, the survey revealed.
