Based on a latest study of municipal councils, English councils are preparing to sell social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to stabilize finances.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils representing major urban areas in the UK reported that six out of ten of councils are planning to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously come under fire for selling playing fields and land to support their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
The group said that a significant number of authorities attempting to raise money from a fire sale of assets represented “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and utilising savings to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Proposed Disposals
One local authority in Kent said its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in a local town and a social club in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the strategy.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Financial Pressures
The survey of local authorities in the coalition, which covers Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of authorities will need to raise council taxes next April to cover the growing cost of essential services, higher levels of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council said it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of youth support, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and temporary accommodation.
“We are taking creative strategies but certain measures require time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from over the past decade, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Trends and Forecasts
A survey of county councils recently also found local finances being stretched by the growing number of young people and adults requiring Send support.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms to the Send system until next year after a white paper outlining those reforms has been postponed.
Deprivation and Financial Gaps
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) covering UK local authorities, many key cities members were included in the most deprived in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” noted the study.
“While only one key city is in the ten most deprived for disadvantaged communities countrywide, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data highlights the scale of challenges confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the report added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting funding system that reflects and responds to the actual extent of deprivation and need,” stated a council leader.
“Without this, councils will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
One in five of councils have cut or compromised social care provision in the past 12 months, the survey found.
