According to a new poll of local authorities, UK councils are preparing to sell community centers, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group representing second-tier cities in the UK stated that 60% of councils are intending to sell assets to cover the escalating costs of social services for vulnerable individuals.
Local governments have in the past faced criticism for disposing of playing fields and land to support their budgets, but they argue they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition noted that a significant number of councils seeking to generate funds from a fire sale of holdings marked “a clear change from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would focus on restructuring services and utilising financial reserves to manage growing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Cases of Proposed Disposals
Medway Council in southeast England said its asset disposal plan included the sale of a retail complex in a local town and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and commercial properties held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Rises and Broader Fiscal Strains
The survey of councils in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, also found that more than 70% of authorities will need to raise local levies next spring to cover the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of homelessness, and a persistent accommodation deficit.
The authority explained it will press ahead with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, 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 population challenges which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from over the past decade, which is very challenging.”
National Patterns and Forecasts
Research of county councils this week further found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and adults needing special educational assistance.
A network of councils projected that local shortfalls will hit £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a white paper outlining those changes was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Shortfalls
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (IMD) covering English councils, several key cities members were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the most deprived 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” said the report.
“Although only one key city is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the extent of challenges facing municipal officials across key cities in the coming year,” the report added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and responds to the real levels of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Lacking this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which essential services to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
A fifth of councils have cut or compromised care services in the last year, the survey revealed.
