Based on a recent survey of municipal councils, UK councils are preparing to offload social clubs, sports centres, and retail spaces as they rely on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Challenges Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for second-tier cities 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.
Councils have previously come under fire for disposing of playing fields and open spaces to shore up their budgets, but they contend they must continue to raise vital cash from property disposals or face insolvency.
This coalition noted that a high proportion of councils seeking to generate funds from a quick sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (six in ten) of local leaders stated they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to manage growing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in Kent said its property management strategy featured the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a community venue in another town to raise £20m over five years.
- A local golf course and business parks held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all generate rent for the authority, will additionally be sold under the strategy.
Council Tax Rises and Broader Financial Strains
This research of local authorities in the coalition, which includes Sunderland, Southampton, Gloucester and Salford, also found that more than 70% of councils will have to raise council taxes next spring to address the rising cost of core provisions, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a persistent housing shortage.
The authority explained it will proceed with asset sales after steep rises in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, adult social care, and short-term housing.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but some of these require time to achieve both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our revenue support grant from 2010-24, which is very challenging.”
Countrywide Trends and Projections
A survey of regional authorities this week further found local finances being stretched by the growing number of children and adults needing special educational assistance.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they grapple to manage rising needs.
Ministers have put off planned reforms 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
Based on the latest indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, several key cities members were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the study.
“While only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods countrywide, urban areas are much more prone to be in the worst-off 20% of England. The figures highlights the scale of difficulties confronting local leaders across major urban centers in the coming year,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a fair and sustainable funding system that accounts for and addresses the real levels of deprivation and need,” said Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to fund, and which to cut, to the disadvantage of their residents.”
A fifth of local authorities have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
