Based on a recent poll of municipal councils, UK councils are preparing to offload community centers, sports centres, and shopping arcades as they bet on a rapid disposal of properties to balance the books.
Increasing Fiscal Pressures Prompt Asset Sales
A coalition of councils for major urban areas in the UK stated that six out of ten of local authorities are intending to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Local governments have previously faced criticism for selling playing fields and open spaces to support their finances, but they contend they must proceed to generate essential revenue from asset sales or declare themselves bankrupt.
The group noted that a significant number of councils seeking to raise money from a quick sale of assets marked “a distinct shift from 2024, when the largest share (six in ten) of local leaders said they would focus on service redesigns and using savings to weather increasing financial challenges.”
Specific Examples of Planned Sales
One local authority in southeast England announced its asset disposal plan featured the disposal of a shopping centre in Rainham and a social club in another town to generate £20m over the next half-decade.
- A local golf course and commercial properties held in two English counties, which all provide rental income for Medway council, will also be disposed of under the plan.
Council Tax Increases and Broader Financial Strains
This research of councils in the key cities group, which includes several urban centers, further found that over seven in ten of councils will have to increase council taxes next spring to address the rising cost of essential services, higher levels of housing insecurity, and a longstanding housing shortage.
The authority said it will proceed with property disposals after sharp increases in the cost of children services, support for vulnerable learners, elderly and disability services, and temporary accommodation.
“We are adopting creative strategies but some of these take time to deliver both better provisions and cost efficiency,” said Vince Maple.
He added: “We face demographic pressures which will persist to add to the pressures we have. As a local government body, we had a drastic reduction in our central funding from 2010-24, which is extremely difficult.”
Countrywide Patterns and Forecasts
A survey of county councils this week also found council budgets being strained by the growing number of children and adults requiring Send support.
The County Councils Network projected that council deficits will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of the decade, as they struggle to cope with rising needs.
Ministers have delayed planned reforms to the special educational needs framework until next year after a white paper outlining those changes has been postponed.
Disadvantage and Financial Gaps
Based on the latest deprivation measures (the Index of Multiple Deprivation) covering English councils, many key cities members were included in the most deprived in the country.
- “Participating urban centers like Hull, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wolverhampton rank in the top 30 nationally under the 2025 deprivation indices,” noted the report.
“Although only a single urban area is among the ten most deprived for deprived neighbourhoods nationally, cities are far more likely to be in the most deprived fifth of England. The data underscores the extent of difficulties facing local leaders across key cities in the coming year,” the report concluded.
“Council officials have been clear about the need for a fair and sustainable financial structure that accounts for and addresses the actual extent of deprivation and demand,” stated Michael Mordey.
“Lacking 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 last year, the survey revealed.
