According to a new study of municipal councils, UK councils are preparing to sell social clubs, athletic facilities, and retail spaces as they bet on a rapid disposal of assets to balance the books.
Growing Fiscal Pressures Drive Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK reported that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to meet 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 proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
This coalition said that a high proportion of authorities attempting to raise money from a fire sale of assets marked “a clear change from 2024, when the majority (60%) of local leaders stated they would focus on service redesigns and using financial reserves to weather growing fiscal pressures.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England said its asset disposal plan featured the sale of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in Rochester to raise £20m over the next half-decade.
- Gillingham golf club and commercial properties held in Worcestershire and Suffolk, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be sold under the plan.
Local Levy Increases and Wider Financial Pressures
This research of councils 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 cover the growing cost of essential services, increased rates of homelessness, and a longstanding housing shortage.
Medway council said it will proceed 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 achieve both improved services and cost efficiency,” stated a council leader.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will continue to add to the strains we have. As a unitary authority, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding 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 increasing figures of children and older individuals needing Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will reach 4.4 billion pounds a year by 2029, as they struggle to manage increased demand.
Government officials have put off planned reforms to the Send system until the coming year after a white paper outlining those reforms was recently delayed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
Based on the most recent deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering UK local authorities, many participating urban areas were included in the most disadvantaged in the country.
- “Member cities like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the most deprived 30 across the country under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“Although only one key city is in the top 10 for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are much more prone to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The figures highlights the scale of challenges facing municipal officials across major urban centers in the next twelve months,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been explicit about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that reflects and responds to 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 cut, to the detriment of their residents.”
One in five of councils have reduced or weakened social care provision in the last year, the study revealed.
