According to a latest survey of local authorities, UK councils are planning to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books.
Growing Financial Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
The Key Cities Group for second-tier cities in the UK stated that 60% of councils are intending to dispose of properties to cover the rising costs of adult and children’s social care.
Councils have in the past faced criticism for selling public land 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 high proportion of councils attempting to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of municipal officials stated they would prioritise service redesigns and using savings to manage increasing fiscal pressures.”
Detailed Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a retail complex in a local town and a community venue in another town to raise 20 million pounds over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in two English counties, which all generate rent for the authority, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Rises and Wider Financial Strains
The survey of councils in the coalition, which includes several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of authorities will have to increase council taxes next April to cover the rising cost of core provisions, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority explained it will press ahead with asset sales after sharp increases in the cost of youth support, special educational needs and disability (Send) provision, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting innovative approaches but certain measures take time to achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” said a council leader.
He continued: “There are population challenges which will persist to increase the strains we have. As a local government body, we had a 91% cut in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
National Trends and Forecasts
Research of regional authorities this week further found council budgets being stretched by the increasing figures of young people and adults requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network said that local shortfalls will reach £4.4bn a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage rising needs.
Government officials have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until the coming year after a white paper outlining those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
Based on the most recent indices of deprivation (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were among the most disadvantaged in England.
- “Participating urban centers like several major towns place in the top 30 across the country under the 2025 IMD measures,” said the report.
“Although only a single urban area is among the top 10 for disadvantaged communities nationally, urban areas are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of the nation. The data underscores the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the analysis added.
“Council officials have been explicit about the necessity for a equitable and lasting financial structure that accounts for and addresses the real levels of deprivation and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Without this, local authorities will continue to face difficult decisions around which vital provisions to allocate spend to, and which to reduce, to the disadvantage of their communities.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the past 12 months, the study revealed.
